ON   THE 


SCIENCES  AND  ON  THE  AETS 


WORKS  BY  MARIANA  MONTEIRO. 


Sanctuary    Meditations.     For   Priests   and   frequent 

Communicants.    From  the  Spanish  of  Fr.  BALTASAR 

GRACIAN,  S.J.    3/6. 
Little  Meditations  for  Holy  Communion.     From  the 

Spanish  of  Fr.  ANTONIO  ARBIOL,  of  the  Seraphic 

Order  of  St.  Francis.    I/-. 

The  Monk  of  Tuste :  The  Last  Days  of  Charles  Y.    2/6. 
Gathered  Gems  from  Spanish  Authors.    3/6. 
A  Hunting  Expedition  to  the  Transvaal.     From  the 

Portuguese.    9/-. 
The  History  of  Portugal.     From  the  Commencement 

of  the  Monarchy  down  to  the  Present  Day.     In  4 

Vols.     21/-  each  ;  complete,  £4.  4/-. 
Legends  and  Popular  Tales  of  the    Basque    People. 

Edition  de  Luxe,  21/-  ;   Second  Edition,  10/-,  7/6  ; 

Popular  Edition,  3/6. 
The   Diadem  of  Stars  and  other   Tales.      From  the 

Spanish.     3/6. 

Christopher  Columbus :  His   Life,  Labours  and   Dis- 
coveries.   2nd  Volume  in  the  Series  of  "Heroes  of 

the  Cross  ".    3/6. 
Allah  Akbar.    God  is  Great.    The  Siege  of  Granada. 

From  the  Arabic.    3/6. 
Influence  of  Catholicism  on  the  Sciences  and  on  the 

Arts.    From  the  Spanish.     6/-. 

The  Life  of  St.  Jerome.    2  Vols.          [In  preparation. 
Fairy  and  other  Tales.    From  the  Portuguese. 

[Nearly  ready. 


THE 

INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM 

ON   THE 

SCIENCES  AND  ON  THE  ARTS 


FROM   THE   SPANISH   OF   THE 


REV.  BOW  ANDRES  DE  SALAS  Y  GILAVERT,  D.D. 

KNIGHT   HOSPITALLER   OF   ST.  JOHN   OF  JERUSALEM 

CHAPLAIN   TO   HIS   EXCELLENCY   SENOR   DON    NARCISO   DE   HEREDIA  Y   PERALTA 
COUNT    DE   DONA   MARINA 


MARIANA   MONTEIRO 


LONDON 
SANDS     &     CO. 

12   BURLEIGH   STREET,   STRAND 
i  goo 


ABERDEEN   UNIVERSITY   PRESS. 


TO  THE 

VERY  KEVEREND  ALFRED,  CANON  WHITE, 

DEAN  OP  WESTMINSTER  AND  RECTOR  OP  THE  CHURCH  OP  THE 
HOLT  TRINITY,   BROOK  GREEN, 

$  DeDicate 

THIS   LITTLE   WORK   AS   A   SMALL    TRIBUTE   OF 
RESPECT,   ESTEEM   AND   GRATITUDE. 

M.  M. 


"  A  Faithful  Friend  is  a  strong  Defence,  and  he  that  hath  found  him 
hath  found  a  Treasure." — ECCLESIA.STICUS,  vi.  14. 


EXAMEN  AND  APPKOBATIONS. 

TRANSLATION. 

WE,  the  Licenciate  Don  Fulgencio  Gutierrez  y  Colomber,  Priest, 
Knight  of  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Royal  American  Order  of  Isabel 
la  Catolica,  and  Ecclesiastical  Vicar  of  this  Most  Loyal  City  of 
Madrid  and  its  environs, 

By  these  presents  and  by  what  concerns  us,  we  grant  our  licence 
to  permit  the  printing  and  the  publication  of  the  little  book  entitled 
Influence  of  Catholicism  on  the  Sciences  and  on  the  Arts,  written  by 
the  Presbyter  Doctor  in  Divinity,  Don  Andres  de  Salas  y  Gilavert, 
forasmuch  as  we  have  examined  it  and  have  found  nothing  con- 
trary to  the  Catholic  Dogma  and  wholesome  morals,  according  to 
ecclesiastical  censure. 

Dated  Madrid,  27th  September,  1877,  and  signed  by  the 
Licenciate  Gutierrez  by  command  of  his  Excellency 
the  Licenciate  Juan  Moreno  Gongalez  (here  follows 
the  seal). 


NOTICE. 

ALTHOUGH  I  have  submitted  these  articles  to  the  examen,  censure 
and  approbation  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Authorities,  and  I  have 
obtained  their  permission  for  their  publication,  I  desire  to  state 
emphatically  that  it  has  been  my  wish  and  aim  to  print  nothing 
that  could  offend  the  Catholic  Dogma  and  morals.  Should  any 
such  word  be  found,  I  beg  of  my  readers  to  consider  it  as  though  it 
had  not  been  written  ;  and  from  this  day  and  for  ever  I  submit  this 
little  work  to  the  correction  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

Dated  Madrid,  September,  1877,  and  signed  Andres  de 
Salas  y  Gilavert,  Chaplain  to  his  Excellency  Senor 
Don  Narciso  de  Heredia  y  Peralta,  Count  de  Dona 
Marina. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

IT  seems  incredible  that  in  the  so-called  enlightened 
nineteenth  century  there  should  have  been  found 
a  single  person  to  attempt  to  maintain  that  the 
Catholic  Religion  is  hostile  to  the  arts  and  sciences. 
It  must  needs  be  that  such  a  person  simply  closes 
his  eyes  to  history,  in  order  to  make  so  rash  and  un- 
just an  accusation.  The  modern  philosophers,  sup- 
porting their  accusations  upon  some  texts  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  of  the  Holy  Fathers  falsely  inter- 
preted, have  no  hesitation  to  repeat  daily  with 
insolent  superiority  of  manner  :  "  Is  it  not  evident  that 
the  Catholic  Religion  is  opposed  to  the  unfolding  of  in- 
telligence ?  " 

The  attack  could  not  be  more  gross  or  more 
insidious.  Time  has  proved  the  charge  to  be  an 
absurd  accusation,  and  the  truly  learned  men  of 
the  day  are  fully  convinced  that  the  Holy  Catholic 
Religion  is  superior  to  all  others,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  resplendent  lights  with  which  she  has  adorned 
the  world,  but  for  the  extraordinary  and  incontestable 
progress  which  she  has  so  brilliantly  effected  in 
human  reason.  I  shall  proceed  to  examine  and 


X  THE   AUTHOR  S   PREFACE. 

refute  the  charge  of  the  Bationalistic  philosophers, 
and  clearly  manifest  the  utter  want  of  foundation  of 
their  accusations,  because  no  loyal  Catholic  can 
possibly  allow  such  grave  accusations  to  remain 
uncontroverted. 

When  the  Divine  Word  took  flesh  in  the  purest 
womb  of  the  Queen  of  Angels  and  of  men,  assuming 
our  human  nature,  the  object  of  His  highest  mission 
was  to  ransom  the  world ;  but  He  could  not  re- 
establish between  the  Creator  and  the  creature  the 
close  relations  which  sin  had  destroyed,  without 
restoring  all  things,  according  to  the  forcible  ex- 
pression of  the  great  Apostle.  Hence  He  planted 
upon  earth  the  germ  of  all  knowledge,  full  of  power 
and  truth. 

When  He  planted  the  beautiful  tree  of  knowledge 
— a  tree  which  later  on  under  the  influence  of  Catho- 
licism was  to  assume  gigantic  proportions,  extending 
its  splendid  branches  towards  all  the  various  parts  of 
the  world,  summoning  all  men  to  come,  and  taste, 
and  be  delighted  with  its  delicious  and  wholesome 
fruits — this  tree  was  no  more  than  an  impercep- 
tible seed.  And  in  truth  what  was  our  Divine 
Religion  at  that  epoch?  A  cross  raised  up  on  the 
heights  of  Calvary ;  the  Son  of  a  Carpenter  expiring 
on  that  cross  ;  a  few  women  weeping  and  imploring 
mercy  at  its  foot ;  some  doubting  Disciples  deficient 
of  courage,  and  who  fled  away  from  the  smallest 
persecution — such  was  the  first  spectacle  that  was 


THE   AUTHOR  S   PREFACE.  xi 

presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  world  by  Christian 
society.  But  very  quickly  did  the  humble  Eedeemer 
of  men  rise  glorious  from  the  sepulchre,  and  like  the 
Good  Shepherd  that  He  was,  full  of  tenderness,  He 
called  together  His  loved  flock  which  had  become 
dispersed.  He  laboured  to  convince  His  still  vacil- 
lating Apostles  of  the  truth  of  His  triumphant  Ee- 
surrection ;  He  enlightened  more  and  more  their  rude 
intelligences,  purifying  their  carnal  hearts,  and  then 
He  ascended  to  heaven,  blessing  them,  promising  to 
send  down  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Divine  promise  of 
the  Son  of  God  was  not  delayed  in  being  accom- 
plished. 

The  spirit  of  wisdom  and  fortitude  descended  upon 
the  Apostles.  Those  hitherto  ignorant,  timid  men, 
feeling  a  Divine  fire  which  enlightened  and  transported 
them,  dispersed  and  went  to  all  parts  of  the  world  to 
convert  the  nations  and  peoples  to  the  Holy  Doctrine 
of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Disciples  necessarily  experienced 
the  same  fate  as  their  Master.  Like  Him  they  fell 
victims  to  many  and  cruel  persecutions.  But  over 
the  still  smoking  blood  of  those  heroic  leaders  of 
Christianity  others  rose  in  huge  numbers,  penetrated 
by  the  same  spirit,  and  who  went  forth  to  propagate 
the  Gospel  throughout  the  globe.  Amazed  at  the 
rapid  progress  effected  by  the  new  religion,  the 
powers  of  the  whole  world  leagued  together  to 
smother  it  in  its  birth,  and  persecution  broke  out  on 
every  side.  The  faithful  were  compelled  to  celebrate 


xii  THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

their  grand  and  sublime  mysteries  in  the  gloom  of 
the  Catacombs  ;  they  did  not  appear  in  public  but  to 
serve  as  food  for  wild  beasts,  or  as  cruel  prey  to  the 
tyrants  who  were  more  ferocious  still  than  the  wild 
beasts.  Such  was  the  second  spectacle  which  was 
offered  to  the  world  by  Christian  society. 

At  this  moment  there  undoubtedly  came  over 
human  intelligences  an  extraordinary  change.  From 
the  instant  when  the  Divine  Jesus  preached  His 
most  holy  and  excellent  doctrine  in  Judea,  was  not 
the  loftiest  wisdom  heard  there?  Should  we  not 
wish  to  mention  the  Master  Whose  superiority  is 
incontestable,  were  the  Apostles  perchance  men 
deficient  of  eloquence  whose  wise,  impressive  words 
convinced  so  many  thousands  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  ? 
Were  they  bereft  of  talents,  those  evangelists  who 
are  so  greatly  admired,  and  who  have  left  us  books 
of  a  sublimity  and  elevation  of  thought  which  no 
human  understanding  has  been  able  to  excel  or 
even  reach,  and  of  such  depth  and  power  that  the 
most  critical  have  been  unable  to  find  the  smallest 
blot?  Were  the  first  successors  of  the  Apostles 
obscure  men  of  no  intelligence  that  they  also  suc- 
ceeded in  converting  to  the  most  profound  dogmas, 
and  to  the  most  austere  of  morals,  whole  cities  and 
peoples  bred  up  and  accustomed  to  an  easy  sensual 
religion  ? 

If  our  holiest  religion,  which  numbers  nineteen 
centuries,  has  conquered  all  the  powers  of  the  world, 


THE   AUTHOR  S   PREFACE.  Xlll 

dominated  the  most  rebellious  spirits;  if  it  has 
poured  abundant  and  refulgent  light  even  over  the 
less  elevated  classes  of  society,  and  filled  Europe  as 
well  as  the  rest  of  the  world  with  notable  monu- 
ments ;  to  dare  with  such  hardihood  to  assert  that 
the  Catholic  Keligion  is  opposed  to  the  unfolding  of 
intelligence  is  to  dare  to  contradict  evidence,  and 
equal  to  daring  to  confound  truth  with  error,  light 
with  darkness,  Christ  with  Belial. 

In  order  more  fully  to  demonstrate  the  falsity  of 
this  unfounded  charge,  let  us  call  to  mind  the 
multitude  of  great  and  privileged  minds  that  have 
been  formed  in  the  bosom  of  our  Divine  Religion. 
What  a  magnificent  continuity  of  illustrious  per- 
sonages is  presented  to  my  mind  during  the  first  six 
centuries  of  the  existence  of  the  Catholic  Church ! 
St.  Justin,  Platonic  philosopher,  most  admirable  and 
worthy  of  all  praise  for  his  wisdom  and  clear  in- 
telligence, yet  lays  down  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  the 
vain  wisdom  of  the  schools,  embraces  the  tenets  of 
the  Holy  Gospels,  becomes  her  great  Apologist,  and 
ends  by  being  her  true  martyr.  Tertullian,  born  in 
the  depths  of  Paganism,  gifted  with  a  noble,  fecund 
genius,  deeply  versed  in  jurisprudence,  in  fabulous 
antiquities,  and  in  the  principles  of  all  the  philo- 
sophical sects.  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who, 
possessed  by  an  immense  thirst  for  knowledge, 
traversed  Greece,  Asia,  Syria,  Egypt,  visiting  in  all 
these  places  the  most  renowned  men  and  those  most 


xiv  THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

deeply  read  in  all  beliefs,  and  finished  his  travels  in 
Alexandria.  Here  he  dedicated  himself  to  the  study 
of  religion,  and  became  the  president  of  the  Christian 
Academy  established  in  that  city — a  celebrated 
school,  where,  according  to  St.  Jerome,  succeeded  an 
uninterrupted  line  of  masters,  full  of  learning  and 
virtue,  equally  conversant  with  sacred  writings  and 
secular  literature.  It  was  here  that  St.  Clement  com- 
posed his  great  works,  among  others  his  Admonitiones 
ad  Gentiles.  From  this  school  issued  historians  in 
all  ages  and  of  all  nationalities,  philosophers  in  all 
branches,  poets  of  all  languages.  Origen,  who  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  was  already  a  distinguished  sage, 
the  first  shining  light  of  his  time,  and  the  admiration 
of  the  Pagan  philosophers.  St.  Jerome  tells  us  that 
the  celebrated  and  illustrious  Origen  was  well  versed 
in  dialectics,  geometry,  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  in 
the  philosophy  of  all  the  schools. 

To  these  great  sages,  defenders  of  holy  religion,  it 
will  be  expedient  to  add  others,  in  order  that  modern 
sophists  should  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what 
I  advance.  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Arnubius,  Lac- 
tantius,  surnamed  the  Christian  Cicero,  Minutius 
Felix,  who  distinguished  himself  in  Borne  by  his 
eloquence,  and  who,  after  he  had  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, composed  for  his  defence  a  beautiful  dialogue, 
which  is  still  carefully  preserved.  To  recall  the 
names  of  St.  Irenaeus,  St.  Cyprian,  St.  Basil,  St. 
Ambrose,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  John  Chrysostom,  St. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xv 

Hilary,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  and  others,  is  to  call  to  mind  men  of  great 
eminence,  whose  excellent  works  are  consecrated  by 
the  veneration  of  ages. 

I  might  still  longer  linger  in  the  just  and  well- 
merited  praise  of  the  great  and  excellent  men  who 
so  brilliantly  illustrated  the  world  during  the  first 
ages  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  I  consider  it  would 
be  a  difficult  and  needless  task  to  attempt  unfolding, 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  small  book,  a  subject 
which  is  found  so  clearly  developed  by  all  the 
Apologists,  and  the  perusal  of  which  I  recommend  to 
the  consideration  of  our  obstinate  adversaries,  so  that 
they  may  become  more  fully  convinced  of  the  falsity 
of  their  charges.  In  order  that  they  may  not  urge 
that  these  eminent  men  were  already  renowned 
before  they  embraced  Christianity,  I  will  tell  them 
that  there  are  existing  documents  which  prove  that 
the  greater  number  were  formed  in  her  glorious 
bosom.  I  admit  that  there  have  been  some  who  had 
acquired  celebrity  previous  to  becoming  adopted  sons 
of  Jesus  Christ,  but  can  these  followers  of  the  Goddess 
of  Beason  deny  that  they  became  much  more  eminent 
after  their  conversion,  and  that,  entrusted  with  the 
defence  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Faith  (Fountain  of 
Divine  Light),  they  rose  to  a  height,  and  attained  a 
name  and  renown,  which,  outside  the  pale  of  reli- 
gion, it  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to 

have  attained? 

b 


xvi  THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

In  order  to  bear  out  this  statement,  I  wish  to 
mention  merely  a  few  of  those  who  became  most 
renowned.  What  would  St.  Justin  have  been  if  to 
his  title  of  philosopher  had  not  been  added  that  of 
Christian  ?  What  of  Tertullian,  had  he  not  with  his 
rare  genius  defended  the  holy  cause  of  our  Divine 
Eeligion?  Simply  a  clever  jurisconsult,  whose  re- 
putation would  scarcely  have  extended  beyond  his 
country  and  his  age.  What  would  St.  Ambrose 
have  been  had  not  his  singular  talents  and  great 
eloquence  become  developed  in  the  Christian  pulpit  ? 
An  incorruptible  magistrate,  whose  name  would 
never  have  been  handed  down  to  our  days. 

What  shall  I  say  of  that  splendid  luminary  of  the 
Church,  the  glory  of  mankind,  the  most  celebrated 
of  the  fathers,  the  illustrious  St.  Augustine  ?  What 
would  have  become  of  his  rare  talents  had  he  not 
faithfully  interpreted  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  had  he 
not  so  admirably  written  the  City  of  God,  had  he  not 
revealed  to  the  world  his  ardent  heart  completely 
transformed  to  the  Catholic  faith  ? 

Eloquence  and  letters  imparted  at  this  memor- 
able epoch  a  most  vivid  lustre  to  Christian  society, 
Nevertheless,  the  Koman  Empire  was  rapidly  be- 
coming engulfed  on  all  sides,  and  along  with  it  the 
civilised  world,  which  it  enclosed  within  its  boundary. 
There  was  no  possibility  of  cultivating  the  sciences 
and  the  arts  ;  the  sceptre  of  the  world  was  held  in  the 
fearful  hands  of  ignorance  and  brutal  force ;  the  new 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xvii 

civilisation  which  Catholicity  presented  to  the  world 
had  scarcely  illumined  the  earth  with  its  brilliant 
light  than  it  suddenly  disappeared,  and  sank,  buried 
in  the  most  appalling  darkness. 

What  could  our  holy  religion  work  in  those  days 
of  sad  memories  ?  Conceal,  preserve  the  sacred  fire 
of  science,  as  she  preserved  that  of  faith,  within  her 
inviolable  asylums ;  impel  her  worthy  ministers,  her 
most  loved  sons,  to  follow  an  assiduous  study,  far 
from  the  tumult  of  warfare  and  of  the  passions ; 
improve  the  gross  and  rude  customs  of  the  bar- 
barians, and  accustom  them  to  love  a  life  of  peace 
and  order ;  teaching  them  to  respect,  as  sacred 
things,  the  double  deposit  of  the  Divine  and  the 
human  thought,  the  venerable  objects  of  worship  and 
of  science,  which  the  terrible  hordes  of  evil  men  were 
taking  a  pleasure  in  destroying.  Meanwhile  that  a 
senseless  conqueror  was  razing  to  the  ground,  with 
sacrilegious  hands,  the  magnificent  works  of  religion 
and  of  science,  those  admirable  men,  those  staunch 
true  lovers  of  our  Lord  and  our  God,  would  preserve 
them  carefully  within  their  temples  and  monasteries. 

All  those  who  have  no  more  than  a  superficial 
knowledge  of  history  must  admit  that  the  men  who 
more  greatly  distinguished  themselves  in  the  Middle 
Ages  were  formed  under  the  immediate  influence  of 
the  Catholic  Religion  ;  and  certainly  these  eminent 
men  were  very  superior  to  the  sickly  idea  conceived 
by  the  Sophists. 


XVlii  THE   AUTHOR* S  PREFACE. 

Was  not  the  illustrious  Bernard  a  superior  man, 
who,  from  the  depths  of  his  retreat,  moved  the  whole 
world  by  the  power  of  his  eloquent  words  ?  Was  not 
the  sympathetic  and  profound  author  of  the  Imitation 
of  Christ  a  man  of  superior  attainments,  and  worthy 
of  all  praise,  whose  modesty  was  superior  to  his 
science,  because,  despising  that  vain  glory  which  is 
so  ardently  sought  after  by  the  world,  he  left  to 
posterity  sublime  and  inimitable  thoughts  without 
affixing  his  name  to  the  work  ?  What  shall  I  say  of 
those  celebrated  founders  who  alone,  and  at  the  foot 
of  the  Cross,  have  traced  out  constitutions  that  have 
never  been  superseded,  nor  even  equalled,  by  public 
constitutions,  largely  elaborated  by  our  own  most 
brilliant  statesmen ;  and  what  of  those  theologians, 
those  jurisconsults,  who  have  treated  fundamentally 
great  religious  and  social  questions,  which  have 
scarcely  been  altered  by  our  most  distinguished 
statesmen — were  they  perchance  not  men  of  mark? 
From  the  time  when  order  was  restored  and  peace 
established  in  that  land  corrupted  and  overturned 
by  evil  passions,  are  we  not  amazed  to  see  issuing 
from  the  bosom  of  the  Church  the  first  rays  of  that 
refulgent  light  that  dissipated  the  darkness  which 
covered  the  horizon  of  the  world,  and  crowned  with 
glory  and  splendour  the  whole  of  Europe  ? 

What  fertile  and  extraordinary  geniuses  have 
appeared  in  Christian  society  since  that  epoch  down 
to  our  day !  In  the  intellectual  and  metaphysical 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xix 

sciences,  and  in  philosophy,  what  renowned  men 
have  risen  up  before  us,  such  as  Bacon,  Descartes, 
Pascal,  Malebranche  and  Leibnitz !  What  men  so 
learned  in  all  human  knowledge  as  Erasmus, 
Usserius,  Baronius,  Mabillon,  Petau,  Bochart, 
Vossius  and  Fleury! 

What  depth  of  doctrine  in  those  statesmen, 
jurisconsults  and  magistrates,  such  as  Thomas 
More,  Talon,  Grotius  and  Donat !  What  singular 
geniuses,  what  rare  intelligences,  what  poets,  orators 
and  writers  are  conjured  up  on  pronouncing  the 
names  of  Tasso,  Bossuet,  Fenelon,  Bourdaloue, 
Massillon  and  La  Fontaine  !  In  the  natural 
sciences,  in  physics  and  mathematics,  what  brilliant 
names  are  those  of  Copernicus,  Galileo,  Newton, 
Keaumur  and  Euler !  Were  I  to  mention  all  the 
great  politicians,  all  the  excellent  artists,  and  all  the 
sages  who  were  Christians,  and  even  highly  religious, 
what  a  beautiful  list  of  illustrious  names  I  should 
have  to  present  to  the  discomfiture  of  our  insidious 
adversaries ! 

Yet,  how  can  I  resist  mentioning  the  glory  and 
sanctity  of  Spain,  those  intellects  that  so  greatly 
distinguished  themselves  for  their  learning,  and 
reflected  so  much  honour  upon  our  country  ?  How 
can  I  cast  to  the  winds  the  sweet  recollections 
bequeathed  to  us  by  the  immortal  St.  John  of  the 
Cross,  that  Spanish  saint  who  filled  with  splendour 
a  whole  century  ?  How  forget  St.  Teresa  of  Jesus, 


xx  THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

she  who  has  been  styled  by  an  eminent  orator  of 
our  day,  "  the  matchless  pride  of  our  country,  Chaste  Lily, 
which  has  filled  with  fragrance  our  barren  fields  ;  a 
wondrous  maiden,  who  has  communicated  to  our  letters 
the  most  noble  efficacy  which  can  be  conceived  by  genius, 
the  efficacy  of  rapture  and  ecstasy,  the  efficacy  of  the 
wonderful  elevation  of  a  boundless  love  "  ? 

For  the  consideration  of  these  modern  Rationalists 
and  godless  accusers,  I  place  before  them  the  ex- 
cellent works  of  the  humble  cripple  of  Lepanto,  the 
illustrious  author  and  Christian  philosopher,  our 
immortal  Cervantes,  he  who,  with  native  simplicity 
and  extraordinary  eloquence,  has  said  :  "  Our  works 
must  never  go  beyond  the  limits  imposed  by  the  Christian 
Religion  ". 

Worthy  of  all  praise  are  also  the  Listas,  Saavedras 
and  Gallegos,  great  defenders  of  the  Faith,  and  ex- 
cellent writers,  whose  works,  like  their  virtues,  fill 
with  true  enthusiasm  the  noble  breasts  of  the  faithful 
lovers  of  Catholicity.  Nor  in  Spanish  literature  are 
less  renowned  those  highly  gifted  men  whom  our 
holy  religion  nestled  in  her  beautiful  bosom,  Suarez, 
Cano,  Victoria,  Luis  Vives,  Sepulveda,  Soto,  Mal- 
donado,  and  the  memorable  Lope  de  Vega,  who 
conferred  so  much  glory  and  honour  on  faith  and 
science.  Justly  did  the  great  politician,  the  literary 
Fajardo,  surname  him  the  Phoenix  of  Genius. 

Catholics  !  while  we  have  before  us  all  that  is  most 
great  and  sublime  which,  under  the  influence  of 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xxi 

Christianity,  has  been  produced  by  human  intelli- 
gence, why  should  we  be  agitated  by  the  rude 
murmurs  of  sophists,  accusing  us  of  being  antagon- 
istic to  science  and  the  arts?  Let  them  know, 
although  they  may  dislike  to  hear  it,  "  that  in  order  to 
comprehend  the  value  of  Spanish  letters,  and  admire  their 
perfect  synthesis  and  rare  beauty,  it  is  necessary  to  lift 
one's  eyes  to  the  Altar  ".  Such  has  been  said  by  a  wise 
foreign  orator.1 

In  order  to  develop  fully  this  most  important 
subject  it  would  be  undoubtedly  necessary  to  write 
several  volumes.  However,  this  one  may  suffice  to 
confute  the  incredulous,  and  convince  them  clearly 
that,  very  far  from  our  holy  religion  being  hostile  to 
science  and  art,  she  lends,  and  always  has  lent,  them 
her  powerful  influence.  When  we  feel  in  our  intelli- 
gences the  precious  ray  of  light  which  emanates  from 
the  Divine  Mind,  with  what  rapidity  are  we  elevated 
to  the  heavens ! 

In  conclusion,  I  affirm,  with  the  celebrated  Pinard, 
that  of  all  religions  the  Christian  religion  is  the 
most  poetic,  the  most  humane,  the  most  favourable 
to  true  liberty  in  the  arts  and  letters;  that  the 
modern  world  owes  all  things  to  her,  from  agricul- 
ture to  the  abstract  sciences,  from  the  hospital  to  the 
temples  erected  by  Michael  Angelo  and  decorated  by 
Baffaelle ! 

1  Pere  F^lix,  Conferences,  1858. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  TRANSLATION. 

IT  is  a  well-known  fact  that  many  trees  brought 
from  foreign  lands,  and  which  are  engrafted,  or 
planted  in  English  soil  by  botanists,  produce 
abundant  fruit;  and  this  is  true  even  of  such  as 
are  supposed  to  be  of  small  fruit-bearing  power, 
because  planted  in  a  richer  land  or  in  contact  with 
others  of  more  perfect  condition;  and  more  especi- 
ally is  this  the  case  if  the  tree  of  its  nature  comes 
from  a  noble  stock. 

In  the  same  way  have  I  ventured  to  transplant 
a  Spanish  work  into  English  soil.  No  doubt  many 
of  my  readers  (should  I  be  fortunate  enough  to 
have  any)  will  wonder  why,  of  all  countries,  I 
should  have  chosen  England,  with  its  depressing 
climate,  to  engraft  a  work,  such  as  the  present 
one,  from  the  sunny  clime  of  Spain;  but  this 
objection  I  will  meet  by  stating  that  Spain,  of  all 
countries  in  Europe,  is,  and  has  ever  been,  the 
most  Catholic — and  not  only  Catholic,  but  one 
which  has  produced  great  theologians,  world-wide 
literary  celebrities  and  artists,  century  after  cen- 
tury ;  in  this,  imitating  the  sun,  which  never  stops 


XXIV       PREFACE  TO  THE  TRANSLATION. 

in  its  course  yet  always  illumines — and,  therefore,  is 
the  one  most  competent  to  write  upon  the  Influence 
of  Catholicism  on  the  Sciences  and  on  the  Arts. 

Some  time  ago  I  was  asked  to  write  a  series  of 
articles  to  refute  the  common  error  that  Catholicism 
is,  by  its  nature,  opposed  to  the  Sciences  and  the 
Arts. 

Judging  that  my  own  pen  would  carry  with  it 
but  small  influence,  I  preferred  to  adapt  and  take 
my  inspiration  from  the  learned  theologian  whose 
name  and  dignity  would  be  of  sufficient  power  to 
render  my  translation  acceptable. 

MAKIANA  MONTEIKO. 

ST.  SCHOLASTICA'S, 
CLA.PTON,  1st  May,  1900. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGM 

THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE ix 

PREFACE  TO  THE  TRANSLATION xxiii 

FIRST  ARTICLE — 

SCIENCE. — Theology  in  General — Its  Definition  and  Divi- 
sion— Arguments  in  favour  of  the  Divine  Authority  of 
the  Church -  -  1 

SECOND  ARTICLE — 

Conformity  of  Reason  to  Faith 15 

THIRD  ARTICLE — 

Philosophy — Its  Definition — The  Influence  of  Catholicism 

upon  Human  Tlumght 23 

FOURTH  ARTICLE — 

The  Necessity  of  the  Authority  of  Catholicism  for  Restrain- 
ing tJie  Wanderings  of  Reason 33 

FIFTH  ARTICLE — 

Continuation  of  the  Same  Subject       .....      43 

SIXTH  ARTICLE — 

LETTERS. — History — Its  Definition  and  Division — Its 
Essential  Conditions — The  Influence  which  Catholi- 
cism exercises  upon  it 53 

SEVENTH  ARTICLE — 

Eloquence — Its  Definition — Its  History — The  Influence 
which  is  brought  to  bear  upon  Eloquence  by  Catholi- 
cism— Eloquence  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  65 

EIGHTH  ARTICLE — 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Poetry — Biblical  Poetry  is 

Superior  to  tlie  Pagan 83 


XXVI  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

NINTH  ARTICLE — 

Continuation  of  the  Same  Subject — New  Sources  of  In- 
spiration which  Catholicism  offers  to  the  Poet — 
Dangers  which  the  Poet  is  exposed  to  if  left  to  himself  -  99 

TENTH  ARTICLE — 

THE  PINE  ARTS. — Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Music         -    111 

ELEVENTH  ARTICLE — 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Painting         ....    125 

TWELFTH  ARTICLE — 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Sculpture        ....    139 

THIRTEENTH  ARTICLE — 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Architecture    -        ...    147 


FIEST  AETICLE. 


FIKST  AKTICLE. 

SCIENCE. 

Theology  in  general — Its  definition  and  division — Arguments 
in  favour  of  the  Divine  Authority  of  the  Church. 

WHAT  is  Science?  "Science,"  says  an  eminent 
writer,1  "is  the  conjunction  of  the  relations  which 
constitute  and  bind  all  creations,  from  God  down  to 
the  atom,  from  the  infinitesimally  small  up  to  the 
infinitely  great.  Each  step,  in  following  up  this 
vast  ladder,  illumines  the  step  which  precedes  it  and 
the  one  which  follows,  because  each  comprehended 
relation,  in  whatever  mode  this  comprehension  is 
effected,  from  below  to  above,  or  vice  versd,  is  a 
revelation  of  That  which  Is.  Or  in  other  words,  the 
effect  manifests  the  cause,  because  it  is  an  image  of 
it;  the  cause  explains  the  effect,  because  it  is  the 
beginning  of  the  first.  Nevertheless,  this  reciprocity 
is  not  equal,  because,  while  the  True  Light  descends 
from  above,  here  below  we  have  only  a  simple  reflec- 
tion. '  We  see  now  through  a  glass  in  a  dark  manner,' 
says  St.  Paul,  '  but  then  face  to  face '  (1  Cor.  xiii.). 
Science  in  our  present  state  is,  therefore,  necessarily 

1  Lacordaire,  Mdmoire  pour  le  retablissement  en  France  de  Vordre 
des  Frtres  PrScheurs,  1839,  p.  117. 


4  THE   INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

imperfect,  because  we  do  not  see  face,  to  face  the 
starting  point  and  the  end — which  is  God.  How- 
ever much  it  may  be  manifested  to  our  sight,  it  is 
not  possible  to  know  it  but  by  the  reflection  which 
is  contained  in  the  inferior  beings.  Before  God 
appeared  He  revealed  His  name.  The  voluntary 
acceptation  of  this  Sovereign  Word  is  called  faith. 
Faith  makes  the  Christian.  When  the  Christian  is 
in  the  possession  of  this  new  element  of  knowledge, 
from  this  point  of  view  of  the  Highest  he  can 
descend  even  to  the  extreme  ends  of  the  universe, 
interpret  from  the  relations  which  constitute  the 
Divine  Essence,  those  relations  which  constitute  the 
essence  of  man  and  of  nature  ;  after  this,  by  the  help 
of  a  converse  movement,  he  verifies,  by  the  laws 
which  govern  finite  beings,  the  laws  of  the  Infinite 
Being.  This  comparison  of  the  two  worlds — the 
illumination  of  the  second,  which  is  the  effect,  by 
the  first,  which  is  the  cause,  and  the  verification  of 
the  first,  which  is  the  cause,  by  the  second,  which 
is  the  effect :  this  flux  and  reflux  of  light,  this 
current,  which  goes  from  the  ocean  towards  the 
stream,  and  from  the  stream  to  the  ocean ;  faith  in 
the  science,  and  science  in  the  faith — this  constitutes 
the  Christian  who  has  attained  to  become  a  theo- 
logian." It  is  indubitable  that  this  beautiful  passage 
concerning  science  is  one  of  the  most  lovely  and 
most  profound  which  human  intelligence  can  pro- 
duce, and  one  which  opens  to  man  an  immense 
field  for  comprehending  the  whole  extension  which 
Theology  embraces,  which  is  the  science  of  sciences. 


FIRST  ARTICLE — SCIENCE.  5 

What  is  Theology?  Theology,  according  to  the 
etymology  of  the  word,  is  the  same  as  treatise  of 
God  ;  it  is,  therefore,  a  word  derived  from  the  Greek 
Theos,  which  signifies  God,  and  logos,  which  means 
treatise,  or  discourse.  But,  in  an  extended  sense, 
we  can  affirm,  with  all  the  wise  men  of  the  world, 
that  Theology  is  the  science  of  sciences ;  the  one 
which  must  necessarily  embrace  and  contain  all 
others ;  the  one  which  pours  upon  all  sciences  a 
certain  reflection  of  the  Divine  Nature.  For  which 
reason  it  is,  with  all  propriety,  called  the  Science  of 
God,  because  God  is  the  Being  Who  by  excellence 
is  the  Being  of  beings,  the  One  Who  encompasses 
all  in  His  immensity,  the  One  Who  shines  in  all  the 
infinite  perfections  of  His  Sovereign  and  All-power- 
ful Being,  superior  to  all  that  exists  or  can  exist. 

"Theology,"  says  the  celebrated  Maret,1  "is  the 
science  of  God,  of  man  and  of  nature,  in  its  most 
profound  and  mysterious  relations.  Carried  on  the 
wings  of  faith,  and  guided  by  the  torch  of  the  Divine 
Word,  Theology  soars  towards  the  celestial  world, 
from  thence  to  contemplate  the  Divine  Nature. 
Like  Moses  standing  over  Sinai,  it  contemplates, 
beneath  the  veil  of  the  mysteries,  the  very  laws  of 
the  Divine  Being.  Illumined  by  the  celestial  rays 
under  the  ladder  of  creation,  Theology  lights  up, 
with  that  light  which  it  has  derived  from  the 
Eternal  Focus,  the  diverse  spheres  which  compose 
creation.  Upon  this  inclined  plane,  it  meets,  in  the 

1  Th6odic6e  Chrdtienne,  Lesson  3,  p.  70. 


6  THE   INFLUENCE  OF   CATHOLICISM. 

first  term,  with  the  world  of  pure  spirits,  of  celestial 
intelligences.  On  the  opposite  extreme  to  this  world 
it  meets  that  of  bodies,  with  their  laws,  their  powers, 
the  millions  of  beings  which  it  encloses,  pale  reflec- 
tions indeed,  but  reflections  which  bear  the  stamp 
of  the  eternal  Beauty.  Between  these  two  worlds 
stands  a  third  world,  that  of  humanity,  which  parti- 
cipates of  the  one  and  of  the  other.  These  three 
worlds  are  joined  one  to  the  other  and  with  its 
Supreme  Cause,  for  an  infinity  of  relations.  These 
relations  constitute  two  orders  essentially  different, 
but  which,  notwithstanding,  are  united  in  themselves 
and  correspond  in  a  magnificent  unity — the  natural 
and  the  supernatural  orders.  After  this,  from  the 
work  of  God,  springs  the  work  of  man.  Then  is 
unfolded  the  mixture  of  truth  and  error,  of  good 
and  evil,  which  is  what  constitutes  human  history. 
But  evil  does  not  exist  upon  the  earth,  nor  in 
humanity,  excepting  under  the  condition  of  its  being 
combated  and  repaired.  Only  God  can  heal  it,  and 
to  attain  this  end  institutes  a  series  of  means  which 
forms  a  new  creation  in  the  bosom  of  the  first. 
Then  all  becomes  complicated,  but  all  things  become 
exalted.  Behold,  here,  the  vast  field  of  Theology : 
in  it  is  found  God  and  the  Atom." 

In  the  same  way  as  man  has  need  to  know  created 
beings,  because  he  himself  is  a  part  of  them,  and  all 
beings  bear  some  relation  to  himself,  in  like  manner, 
I  repeat,  does  man  require  to  know  the  Perfect  Being, 
the  Uncreated  Being,  and  his  Infinite  Maker ;  be- 
cause, without  this  knowledge,  man  would  know  not 


FIRST  ARTICLE — SCIENCE.  7 

from  whence  he  came,  nor  where  he  is  going,  nor 
what  is  his  high  mission  in  this  miserable  exile. 
Wandering,  in  a  certain  sense,  through  the  vast 
extent  of  creation,  carried  here  and  there  by  the  ever- 
swelling  wave  of  the  generations,  like  a  ship  without 
a  pilot  to  guide  it  on  the  large  space  of  the  ocean, 
he  would  not  know  where  to  direct  his  steps,  nor 
from  what  shore  he  had  started.  From  this  we  can 
perfectly  understand  the  reason  why  our  God  and 
Lord  was  pleased  to  instil  into  our  hearts  an  ardent 
desire  and  yearning  to  know  Him. 

Theology,  in  general,  is  divided  into  two  branches, 
Dogmatic  and  Moral ;  both  being  necessary  for  the 
justification  of  man,  because,  in  the  same  way  as 
Dogmatic  Theology  teaches  us  the  truths  revealed  by 
God,  and  which  we  are  bound  to  believe  if  we  desire 
to  be  saved,  so  does  Moral  Theology  teach  us  those 
sacred  duties  we  have  to  perform  and  the  non-fulfil- 
ment of  which  would  deprive  us  of  attaining  to  the 
last  End  for  which  we  were  created,  that  is,  eternal 
glory  or  final  bliss.  We  cannot  take  a  single  step, 
in  this  world,  without  being  reminded  by  our  con- 
science of  many  aud  varied  duties,  but  these  duties  we 
would  be  unable  really  to  fulfil  unless  we  believed 
firmly  in  the  magnificent  deposit  of  the  holy  and 
sublime  doctrine  which  God  confided  to  His  Church, 
to  whose  infallible  authority  we  ought  to  lend  a 
complete  submission,  if  we  do  not  wish  to  become 
separated,  like  broken  branches,  and  sent  from  the 
precious  tree  of  Life,  Jesus  Christ,  our  Kedeemer, 
Who  died  to  save  the  whole  human  race.  It  is 


8  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

altogether  impossible  that  there  could  be  a  just 
reason  out  of  harmony  with  the  incontestable  and 
indubitable  proofs  of  the  Divine  Authority  of  the 
Church,  because  these  proceed,  in  the  greater  part, 
from  actual  and  resplendent  acts,  patent  to  all. 

Are  not  the  thousands  of  miracles  which  have  been 
performed  under  the  clear  light  of  heaven,  throughout 
the  world,  evident  and  manifest  acts  ?  Is  it  not  an 
actual  fact,  the  admirable  and  exact  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecies  ?  Does  it  not  prove,  in  a  most  conclusive 
manner,  the  Divine  Authority  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
to  behold  the  infinite  multitude  of  martyrs,  the  great 
prodigy  of  its  establishment,  and  the  still  greater 
prodigy  of  its  preservation,  in  the  midst  of  so  many 
ruins  which  have  been  heaped  up  on  its  path,  to 
witness  the  purity,  the  sanctity,  the  sublimity  of  its 
doctrines,  and  the -heavenly  life  of  all  those  who  are 
obedient  to  them,  with  the  excellent  sincerity  of 
generous  and  noble  hearts? 

The  Divine  Queen  of  intelligence,  the  Catholic 
Church,  gathers  around  her  the  creatures  she  has 
been  entrusted  with,  and  holding  in  one  hand  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  and  in  the  other  the  holy  Tradi- 
tions, she  tells  them  in  sweet  yet  firm  tones,  "  I  have 
to  announce  to  you  wholesome  truths  which  you 
would  be  unable  to  comprehend  had  they  not  been 
revealed.  Listen  with  docility,  all  of  you !  There 
is  an  Eternal  God,  All-powerful,  who  possesses  the 
plenitude  of  life.  In  Him  there  are  three  distinct 
Persons,  being  only  One  God,  possessing  the  same 
Nature,  which  is  communicated  to  Each  without 


FIRST   ARTICLE — SCIENCE.  9 

there  being  the  slightest  alteration  or  distinction. 
These  are  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  Father  is  the  Beginning  of  the  Trinity,  the  Son 
is  begotten  by  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  pro- 
ceeds from  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  it  is  the  infinite 
love  which  the  Father  bears  the  Son  and  the  Son  to 
the  Father;  it  is  its  reciprocal  union,  its  common 
effusion.  For  One  is  the  Person  of  the  Father, 
another  of  the  Son,  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
But  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  all  One,  the  glory  equal,  the 
majesty  co-eternal.  The  Father  is  uncreated,  the 
Son  is  uncreated,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  uncreated. 
The  Father  is  incomprehensible,  the  Son  is  incom- 
prehensible, and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  incomprehensible. 
The  Father  is  eternal,  the  Son  is  eternal,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  eternal.  And  yet  they  are  not  three 
Eternals,  but  one  Eternal.  As  also  they  are  not 
three  Uncreateds,  nor  three  Incomprehensibles,  but 
one  Uncreated,  and  one  Incomprehensible.  In  like 
manner,  the  Father  is  Almighty,  the  Son  is  Almighty, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  Almighty.  And  yet,  they 
are  not  three  Almighties,  but  one  Almighty.  So  the 
Father  is  God,  the  Son  is  God,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  God,  and  yet  they  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one 
God."  For  as  we  are  compelled,  by  the  Christian 
truth,  to  acknowledge  every  Person  by  Himself  to 
be  God,  so  we  are  forbidden  by  the  Catholic  religion 
to  say  there  are  three  Gods.  The  Father  is  made  of 
no  one,  neither  created  nor  begotten.  The  Son  is 
from  the  Father  alone,  not  made,  nor  created,  but 


10  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

begotten.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  not  made,  nor  created,  nor  begotten,  but 
proceeding.  So,  there  is  one  Father,  not  three 
Fathers ;  one  Son,  not  three  Sons ;  one  Holy  Ghost, 
not  three  Holy  Ghosts.  And  in  this  Trinity  there 
is  nothing  before  or  after ;  nothing  greater  or  less ; 
but  the  whole  Three  Persons  are  co-eternal  to  One 
another  and  co-equal.  So  that  in  all  things,  as  has 
been  already  said  above,  the  Unity  is  to  be  worshipped 
in  Trinity,  and  the  Trinity  in  Unity.  He,  therefore, 
that  will  be  saved  must  thus  think  of  the  Trinity. 
Furthermore,  it  is  necessary  to  everlasting  salvation 
that  he  also  believe  rightly  the  Incarnation  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Now  the  right  Faith  is,  that  we 
believe  and  confess  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  is  both  God  and  Man.  He  is  God  of 
the  substance  of  His  Father,  begotten  before  the 
world :  He  is  man  of  the  substance  of  His  Mother, 
born  in  the  world.  Perfect  God  and  perfect  Man : 
subsisting  of  a  rational  soul  and  human  flesh.  Equal 
to  the  Father,  according  to  His  Godhead,  and  less 
than  the  Father,  according  to  His  Manhood,  Who, 
although  He  be  both  God  and  Man,  yet  He  is  not 
two,  but  one  Christ.  One,  not  by  the  conversion 
of  the  Godhead  into  flesh,  but  by  the  taking  of  the 
manhood  unto  God.  One  altogether,  not  by  con- 
fusion of  substance,  but  by  unity  of  person.  For,  as 
the  rational  soul  and  the  flesh  are  one  man,  so  God 
and  man  are  one  Christ.  Who  suffered  for  our  salva- 
tion ;  descended  into  hell ;  rose  again  the  third  day 
from  the  dead.  He  ascended  into  heaven  ;  He  sitteth 


FIRST  ARTICLE — SCIENCE.  11 

at  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty,  from 
thence  He  shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead.  At  whose  coming  all  men  shall  rise  again 
with  their  bodies,  and  shall  give  an  account  of  their 
own  works.  And  they  that  have  done  good  shall  go 
into  life  everlasting ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil 
into  everlasting  fire.  This  is  the  Catholic  faith, 
which,  except  a  man  believe  faithfully  and  stead- 
fastly, he  cannot  be  saved.1 

In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven  and  earth.2 
He  spoke  and  all  things  were  magnificently  made. 
We  also  are  of  the  number  of  these  creatures  that 
have  received  existence  from  God,  and  whose  life  is 
renewed  every  moment  at  His  bosom.  Although  He 
has,  so  to  say,  only  granted  to  us  an  almost  imper- 
ceptible part  of  space  and  time,  we  are  in  reality 
very  great,  because  we  were  created  to  the  image  of 
God,3  and  our  life  will  be  continued  in  eternity. 
There  is  reserved  to  us  for  eternity  the  inexhaustible 
fountain  of  all  happiness,  because  the  infinite  Mercy 
of  God  is  rendered  superior  to  the  malice  of  men ; 
because  His  Divine  Son  became  incarnate,  took  upon 
Himself  our  weaknesses,  and  died  on  a  shameful 
Cross,  fully  satisfying  Divine  Justice.  Down  then 
with  all  unbelief  and  despair,  because  by  the  death 
of  Jesus  have  come  to  us  the  sweet  and  melodious 
songs  of  hope  and  of  love ! 

1  Symbolum  S.  Athanasii. 

2  Gen.  i.  1. 

3 "  Ad  imaginem  et  similitudinem  nostram  "  (Gen.  i.). 


12  THE   INFLUENCE   OP   CATHOLICISM. 

Remember,  ye  modern  Sophists,  this  part  of  Catho- 
lic Theology.  Remember  those  poor  fishermen,  the 
holy  Apostles,  and  all  those  whom  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  sent  to  propagate  the  Divine  light  of  His 
Gospel  throughout  the  world,  which  was  then  buried 
in  the  shadows  of  ignorance,  of  idolatry,  and  of 
barbarism !  Remember  those  men  who  were  so 
great,  so  wise,  and  so  extraordinary,  who  by  their  vast 
science  and  tried  virtues  justly  merited  the  renowned 
and  glorious  title  of  Fathers  of  the  Church  of  God. 
What  great  and  holy  thoughts  will  ye  find  in  all 
their  works  !  What  sublimity,  what  magnificence, 
what  depth  of  reasoning,  what  eloquence  in  the 
writings  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  the  resplendent 
luminary  of  Catholicity!  What  deep,  good  sense, 
always  impartial,  always  calm,  ever  closely  united  to 
truth,  will  ye  find  in  that  Summa  Theologica  of  his, 
which  has  been  compared  by  a  celebrated  writer1 
"  to  a  majestic  tree,  coming  forth  from  the  sunshine, 
lifting  up  its  head,  and  spreading  the  branches,  un- 
folds flowers,  and  leaves,  and  fruits  !  " 

The  language  of  these  great  men  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  the  language  of  the  rest,  because  they 
speak  with  the  authority  which  they  have  received 
from  their  Divine  Master.  It  matters  little.how  many, 
and  what  cruel  persecutions  they  may  have  endured, 
or  that  the  blood  of  their  brethren  and  their  own 
should  have  been  spilt  upon  the  earth,  because,  their 
heroic  hearts,  overflowing  with  a  Divine  and  holy 

1  Maret,  Life  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas. 


FIRST  ARTICLE — SCIENCE.  13 

fire,  being  intrepid  and  stronger  than  persecution 
or  even  death  itself,  they  calmly  lifted  up  their  heads 
above  the  many  ruins  which  were  spread  around 
them,  and  made  their  voices  resound  in  noble  and 
salutary  words,  which  were  destined  to  consolidate 
and  civilise  all  generations. 


SECOND  AETICLE. 


SECOND  ABTICLE. 

Conformity  of  Reason  to  Faith. 

THESE  are  some  men  who  pride  themselves  upon 
being  truly  Christian,  yet  were  we  to  demand  of  each 
an  account  of  his  faith,  the  usual  answer  would  be 
this:  "I  do  not  reason,  but  I  wish  to  believe". 
Excellent  language  this,  if  it  be  properly  understood, 
but  in  an  ordinary  sense,  it  manifests  a  very  little 
faith  and  a  hidden  disposition  to  incredulity;  because 
what  does  it  mean  to  say  "I  do  not  reason"?  If 
this  supposed  Christian  knew  how  to  develop  pro- 
perly the  two  sentiments  of  his  soul,  or  would  wish 
to  frankly  manifest  them,  he  would  acknowledge 
that  this  expression  is  equal  to  saying :  "  I  do  not 
reason,  because,  were  I  to  reason,  I  should  believe 
in  nothing ;  I  do  not  reason,  because,  were  I  to  do 
so,  my  reason  would  present  before  me  a  multitude 
of  difficulties,  which  would  prevent  my  believing." 
Those  who  think  in  this  manner,  can  they  make 
an  assertion,  without  being  in  error,  that  they  really 
possess  faith  ?  No  ;  a  thousand  times  no.  It  is 
necessary  to  investigate,  but  without  overstepping 
the  limits  which  the  holy  Apostle,  in  his  letter  to 
the  Komans1  imposes  and  points  out  to  the  first 

1  Bom.  xii.  3. 

2 


18  THE   INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

Christians,  when  he  says  :  "  For  I  say,  by  the  grace  that 
is  given  me,  to  all  that  are  among  you,  not  to  be  more 
wise  than  it  behoveth  to  be  wise,  but  to  be  wise  unto 
sobriety  ".  This  is  the  pattern  conduct  which  we 
ought  to  follow ;  this  is  the  sublime  lesson  which  we 
ought  to  study  carefully :  here  it  is  where  we  must 
use  our  reason,  as  it  is  not  permitted  to  us  ever  to 
say  "I  do  not  reason ".  Without  this  examen, 
without  this  exact  investigation,  we  can  never  hold 
but  a  vague,  uncertain  faith,  without  principle  and 
without  consistency.  ' '  Being  ready  always  to  satisfy 
every  one  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  that  hope  which 
is  in  you," l  as  is  taught  and  enjoined  by  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles. 

But  what  is  the  basis  or  foundation  of  these  great 
mysteries  which  religion  reveals  to  us,  and  which 
are  announced  to  us  in  the  Gospel?  In  what  do 
they  consist  ?  How  are  they  realised  ?  Here  it  is 
where  reason  must  halt :  here  it  is  where  reason 
must  humble  itself,  and  repress  its  natural  curiosity, 
saying,  "I  do  not  reason,  I  believe".  In  effect,  we 
would  be  unreasonable,  and  even  criminal,  were  we 
not  to  believe  all  that  our  most  sacred  and  Divine 
religion  teaches  us,  whose  strong  reasonings  and 
evident  arguments  have  made  us  cognisant  of  truths 
which  are  so  incontestable  and  indubitable,  that  by 
no  means  whatever  can  they  be  refuted. 

Such  is  the  conformity  which  should  exist  between 
reason  and  religion.  Keason  gives,  let  us  so  express 

1 1  Peter  iii.  15. 


SECOND  ARTICLE.  19 

ourselves,  the  first  steps,  convincing  and  persuading 
us  that  Eeligion  comes  from  God :  that  all  the  articles 
which  it  contains  have  been  revealed  by  this  same 
Supreme  Lord,  whether  in  the  scriptures  or  in  the 
traditions,  explained  and  proposed  to  us  by  our  Holy 
Church ;  that,  whereas  God  is  incapable  of  error,  it 
is  logically  deduced  that  all  that  she  has  announced 
is  invariably  true ;  finally,  that  Religion,  as  it  does 
not  teach  us  aught  but  the  Word  of  God  and  His 
excellent  Name,  is  equally  true  and  indefectible,  and 
with  most  just  and  incomparable  motives  demands 
a  perfect  adhesion  of  our  spirit  and  of  our  hearts. 
Behold  here  where  Reason  acts,  and  what  we  discover 
in  favour  of  her  beautiful  and  radiant  lights  ! 

This  general  principle  established,  Religion  im- 
mediately exalts  herself  above  Reason,  expounds  her 
truths,  and,  however  hidden  these  truths  may  be, 
Reason  submits  to  her  without  allowing  it  to  pene- 
trate her  profound  and  mysterious  dogmas.  If 
Reason,  from  its  indocility  and  pride,  rejects  these 
truths,  then  Religion,  with  her  legitimate  and  in- 
fallible authority,  places  it  beneath  her  yoke,  and 
makes  it  see  that  it  ought  not  to  doubt  absolutely 
anything  of  what  she  proposes,  according  to  the 
rules  marked  by  prudence,  keeping  it  within  proper 
limits,  beyond  which  it  must  not  stray,  so  that  it 
should  not  wander  about,  delivering  itself  up  to  a 
diversity  of  doctrines,  which  would  engulph  it  with- 
out doubt  into  the  deepest  chaos. 

Therefore,  our  Catholic  Faith  is  more  firm  with- 
out losing  anything  of  its  mystery;  and  it  is  more 


20  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

mysterious  without  absolutely  losing  any  of  its 
firmness. 

There  are  moments  in  life  when  a  soul — however 
much  it  may  be  Catholic,  and  a  faithful  Christian — 
becomes  interiorly  agitated,  and  has  doubts  of  faith, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles, 
St.  Peter,  who,  when  standing  upon  the  waters, 
was  told  by  our  Kedeemer,1  "  0  thou  of  little  faith, 
why  didst  thou  doubt  ?  "  Nevertheless,  the  soul  does 
not  really  doubt ;  it  believes  in  a  vague,  confused 
manner;  but  the  impression  is  so  strong  on  these 
occasions,  that  it  appears  as  though  the  soul  did 
not  believe  in  anything.  This  is  a  difficult  trial  to 
sustain,  but  one  which  God  permits  in  order  to 
perfect  our  holy  Faith,  and  engrave  it  fixedly  in 
our  hearts !  If  at  any  time,  which  God  forbid, 
we  should  find  ourselves  assailed  by  such  fearful 
temptations,  let  us  implore  the  Divine  assistance, 
and  in  imitation  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  let 
us  exclaim,  " Lord,  save  me".2  Let  us  summon  to 
our  assistance  Beligion  and  Eeason,  and  these  two 
powerful  elements,  which  are  intimately  united,  will 
influence  us,  and  will  lend  us  a  hand  to  calm  our 
agitations. 

Our  natural  Keason  will  remind  us  of  those  great 
and  excellent  motives  which  ever  impelled  us  to 
believe,  and  that  have  seemed  the  most  proper  ones 
for  confirming  in  us  more  and  more  the  Christian 
Faith,  which  we  happily  possess.  To  our  reason, 

1  Matt.  xiv.  81.  *Ibid.,  30. 


SECOND  ARTICLE.  21 

in  effect,  is  presented  the  vast  universe,  with  its 
countless  multitudes  of  beings  which  compose  it, 
filling  us  with  admiration  and  astonishment  at 
beholding  its  diversity,  its  immense  extent,  its 
beauty,  its  perfect  order,  its  mutual  dependence, 
its  utility,  its  durability  after  so  many  ages,  and 
its  perpetuity !  Our  reason  will  lead  us  to  contem- 
plate the  heavens,  whose  rapid  movements  are  ever 
so  precise  and  well  arranged ;  the  planets  which 
afford  us  light,  the  prodigious  number  of  stars 
shining  in  the  firmament ;  the  variety  of  seasons, 
succeeding  one  another  in  such  a  constant  and 
marvellous  revolution,  and  which  perfectly  divide 
the  course  of  time !  What  but  that  precious  and 
rich  gleam  of  the  Divinity  leads  us  to  traverse  in 
thought,  more  rapidly  than  with  the  sight,  those  ex- 
tensive tracts  of  land  and  ocean,  which  are  like  an 
inferior  world  placed  beneath  the  celestial  one?  What 
fruitfulness  !  What  varied  productions  do  we  per- 
ceive in  this  magnificent  work  of  the  Divine  Creation  ! 
Pondering  and  developing  this  thought,  according 
to  the  rules  marked  by  prudence  and  common  sense, 
we  shall  very  quickly  observe  that  all  that  surrounds 
us  is  not,  nor  cannot  be,  the  effect  due  to  the  vain  and 
insignificant  word  called  chance,  as  some  impious  men 
still  pretend  to  maintain,  obstinately,  and  with  sense- 
less zeal.  Foolish  man  !  Nothing  absolutely  could 
exist  unless  a  Supreme  Intelligence  had  given  it  the 
principle  of  its  being.  This  Supreme  Intelligence, 
this  primary  power,  superior  to  all  creatures,  essential, 
independent  of  itself,  the  Sovereign  Author  of  its 


22  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

many  and  extraordinary  beauties,  is  our  God  and 
Lord,  whom  we  ought  to  love  and  adore  with  our 
whole  soul,  and  with  our  whole  heart.  What  is 
there  more  natural  and  reasonable  than  that  the 
Creator  should  expect  and  demand  of  His  creatures 
that  just  homage  which  is  His  due  ?  What  is  there 
more  natural  and  reasonable  than  that  creatures 
should  adore  and  glorify  the  One  to  Whom  they 
owe  their  existence,  believe  in  His  precepts,  con- 
form to  His  will,  practise  His  Holy  Law,  and 
dedicate  themselves  completely  to  His  service?  In 
this  consists  our  holiest  and  Divine  Keligion,  whose 
excellent  truths  no  just  reason  can  disqualify,  nor 
ever  disprove. 

But  should  some  bold  man  ask  of  us  :  "In  what 
consists  the  mystery  of  a  God  made  Man  without 
ceasing  to  be  God,  mortal  and  immortal,  uniting,  in 
one  and  the  same  Person,  all  the  splendour  and 
glory  of  the  Divinity ;  in  what  consists  the  mystery 
of  one  God  and  three  Persons,  and  three  Persons 
in  one  God ;  lastly,  what  may  the  dogma  be  of 
a  God-Man,  really  present  under  the  beautiful  and 
mysterious  species  of  bread  and  wine,  in  the  Sacra- 
ment of  our  altars?  "  our  holy  Catholic  Faith  would 
then  reply  for  us,  in  the  words  of  the  Omnipotent, 
when,  with  a  powerful,  strong  voice,  He  said  to  the 
violently  agitated  sea :  "  Hitherto  thou  shalt  come, 
and  shalt  go  no  further,  and  here  thou  shalt  break  thy 
swelling  waves  !  "  J 

1  Job  xxxviii.  11.  "  Usque  hue  venies,  et  non  precedes  amplius, 
et  hie  confringes  tumentes  fluctus  tuos." 


THIED  AETICLE. 


THIED  AETICLE. 

PHILOSOPHY. 

Its    definition — The   influence  of  Catholicism   upon   human 
thought. 

WHAT  is  Philosophy  ?  Philosophy,  according  to  the 
definition  of  the  word,  signifies  love  of  wisdom ;  it  is 
a  word  derived  from  the  Greek  philos,  which  means 
love,  and  sofos,  which  is  interpreted  wisdom.  Philo- 
sophy, in  its  general  sense,  is  the  exercise  of  the 
reason,  the  activity  of  the  human  spirit,  which  has 
for  its  object  the  study  of  self ;  the  investigation  of 
secondary  causes,  which  are,  in  their  turn,  effects 
of  an  infinite,  eternal,  absolute  and  necessary  cause  ; 
the  principle,  and  foundation  of  the  knowledge  of 
man,  and  of  his  duties  towards  God,  towards  himself 
and  towards  his  fellow-beings  ! 

There  are  not  wanting  senseless  men  who  reject 
Theology  and  Philosophy  as  being  unnecessary 
studies.  What  is  Theology  but  the  Divine  Mind 
manifested  to  man  through  revelation  ?  If  you  re- 
move the  Divine  Mind,  then  will  human  reason  very 
quickly  abandon  itself  to  all  manner  of  disorders, 
and  all  kinds  of  crime,  which  it  is  capable  of  com- 
mitting when  left  to  itself.  What  is  Philosophy 
but  the  thought  of  man,  which  is  elevated  and  rises 


26  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

even  up  to  God,  the  inexhaustible  spring  of  this  very 
thought?  Remove  from  the  human  thought  the 
activity  which  impels  it  towards  the  Divinity,  and 
then  will  the  refulgent  torch  of  faith  disappear  from 
our  reason,  leaving  it  in  almost  complete  obscurity. 
It  will  happen  to  us  as  with  the  blind,  who  scarcely 
perceive,  if  they  do  at  all,  the  luminous  refulgence 
of  the  sun. 

To  deny  the  necessity  of  true  Philosophy  would 
be  equal  to  denying  the  existence  of  God,  which 
would,  indeed,  be  a  tremendous  absurdity,  because 
when  the  Omnipotent  created  man  to  His  image 
and  likeness,1  He  engraved  upon  his  soul,  with  in- 
delible characters,  the  idea  of  a  superior  Being ;  the 
absolute  Creator  of  all  that  exists,  or  can  exist,  a 
most  perfect  Being !  One  that  cannot  be  other  than 
God  Himself,  nor  Who  can  cease  to  exist,  because 
the  impossible  is  not,  nor  ever  can  enter,  as  a  subject 
of  thought.  This  Being  must  be  an  Infinite  Being, 
Eternal,  unless  we  wish  to  say  that  He  existed  in 
a  time  when  there  was  nothing  existent :  a  false 
supposition,  a  great  absurdity,  which  would  not 
occur  even  to  an  idiot,  for  even  the  most  ignorant 
are  aware  that  there  cannot  exist  effects  without 
the  cause  which  produces  them,  for,  on  beholding  a 
work,  the  first  thing  that  occurs  to  man  is  the  idea 
of  the  artificer. 

These  principles  being  admitted,  there  follows  the 
undoubted  fact  that  Catholicism  exercises  on  Philo- 

1  "Ad  imaginem  et  similitudinem  nostram"  (Gen.  i.). 


THIRD   ARTICLE — PHILOSOPHY.  27 

sophy,  or  on  human  thought,  a  great  and  beneficent 
influence.  We  have  said  already  that  Philosophy  is 
the  mind  of  man,  which  is  elevated  up  to  God,  and 
that  God  is  the  absolute  Creator  of  this  thought,  to 
whom  man  owes  all  his  greatness,  and  his  superiority, 
above  all  other  creatures  that  surround  him.  By 
what  else,  if  not  by  the  mind,  which  the  supreme 
Creator  has  conceded  to  man,  is  he  constituted  the 
King  of  Creation  ?  By  what,  but  by  thought,  does 
man  give  to  matter  all  manners  of  form,  adapting 
it  to  his  needs,  and  making  it  produce  marvellous 
effects?  To  what  else,  but  to  thought,  does  man 
owe  the  great  dominion  which  he  exercises  over 
those  ferocious  and  indomitable  animals,  by  which 
he  would  be  destroyed  were  he  left  to  combat  them 
simply  with  his  own  material  powers?  By  what 
else,  but  by  thought,  illumined  by  the  ray  of  light 
Divine,  does  man  attain  to  rise  to  the  sublimity  of 
the  heavens,  penetrates  the  depths  of  the  Infinite 
Majesty,  and  there,  contemplating  His  Magnifi- 
cent Perfections,  experiences  an  indescribable  joy, 
sheltered  from  all  danger,  unless  pride  and  arrogance 
introduce  corruption  into  the  sublime  and  delightful 
fruition  of  the  mind  ?  Pride !  Oh  how  many  dis- 
orders has  it  effected  and  induced  in  human  reason  ! 
How  many  falls,  how  many  calamities,  how  many 
misfortunes  has  humanity  to  lament  which  have 
been  caused  by  this  sin  ? 

The  thought  of  man,  fragile  and  limited,  cannot 
immediately  perceive  the  truth  whilst  he  is  still  on 
earth,  for,  according  to  the  Apostle  St.  Paul,  the 


28  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

most  sublime  mysteries  are  not  impressed  on  the 
soul  until  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ  touches  the  ear ; 
and  then,  although  a  lively  faith,  deep  and  ardent, 
may  keep  it  constantly  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord 
and  God,  man  does  not  see  Him  face,  is  face  (facie  ad 
faciam)  as  in  the  other  life,  but  only  in  an  enigmati- 
cal manner,  and  in  the  mirror  of  Creation.  When 
these  grave  questions,  which  so  intimately  and 
greatly  interest  our  souls,  are  presented  to  our  con- 
sideration, such  as  the  existence  of  God,  the  immor- 
tality of  the  human  spirit,  the  difference  between 
good  and  evil,  the  divinity  of  the  Catholic  Eeligion, 
the  punishment  of  vice,  the  rewards  of  virtue,  ah  ! 
with  what  ardour  do  we  seek  to  dive  into  their 
depths  for  whole  days  together !  How  often  do  we 
shed  bitter  tears  over  the  weakness  of  man,  after  we 
have  endured  that  restlessness,  that  conflicting 
agitation,  which  produced  many  sleepless  nights, 
during  which  we  endeavoured  to  solve  the  difficulties 
which  science  presented  before  us !  But  what  supreme 
pleasure,  what  untold  joy,  what  exuberant  delight  did 
we  not  feel,  when  an  interior  illumination  came  to  dis- 
sipate, with  its  bright  and  refulgent  light,  the  cloud 
which  dimmed  our  intelligence !  With  what  rapturing 
enthusiasm  do  we  not  newly  behold  the  sun  of  Truth, 
shining  in  all  its  splendour,  before  the  soul's  gaze  ! 

The  corruption  of  society  is  the  most  cruel  enemy 
of  the  human  spirit.  After  we  have  examined  our 
own  selves,  let  us  call  to  mind,  if  for  no  more  than  a 
few  moments,  the  teaching  of  history,  and  we  shall 
be  quickly  convinced  that,  with  individuals  as  with 


THIRD  ARTICLE — PHILOSOPHY.         29 

sensual  nations,  they  are,  almost  in  every  case,  de- 
ficient, or  rather,  incapable  of  deep,  great,  energetic  and 
sublime  thoughts.  Their  Philosophy,  if,  in  reality, 
they  possess  any,  cannot  be  otherwise  than  gross, 
materialistic  and  sceptical,  and  not  true  Philosophy. 

Our  Divine  Eeligion  is  the  one  which  powerfully 
influences  the  complete  unfolding  of  the  power  of 
thought.  This  tender,  magnificent  mother  gently 
speaks  to  all  her  children  :  "Allow  yourselves  to  be 
guided  by  the  spirit,  and  never  follow  the  desires  of 
the  flesh,  because  the  flesh  is  always  engaged  in  a 
constant  wrestling  with  the  spirit,  and  the  spirit  with 
the  flesh  ;  therefore,  you  ought  to  practise  the  whole- 
some fruits  of  the  spirit,  and  overcome  the  repulsive 
desires  of  the  flesh,  and  so  be  enabled  to  elevate  the 
spirit  up  even  to  God,  there  to  contemplate  His 
Divine  Perfections.  To  overcome  the  dismal  desires 
of  the  flesh,"  adds  this  Divine  Teacher,  "it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  you  practise  charity, 
patience,  humility,  perseverance,  goodness,  faith  and 
all  the  other  virtues." 

The  Catholic  Eeligion  not  only  enjoins — in  order 
to  think  rightly — fasting,  abstinence  and  the  morti- 
fication of  the  passions,  but  also  especially  recom- 
mends to  us  humility,  because  the  pride  of  man,  if 
once  wounded,  agitates  the  reason,  and  encloses 
thought  within  the  obscurity  of  a  most  darksome 
prison,  and  then  it  respects  nothing,  does  not  ac- 
knowledge rule  or  measure,  and  dares  to  refuse  to 
God  His  first  title  of  a  Primary  Principle,  unwilling 
to  give  Him  honour  as  to  the  Author  of  all  good  and 


30  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

of  all  riches.  Ungrateful  man  !  I  will  say  to  him, 
in  the  words  of  the  great  Apostle :  "  What  hast  thou 
that  thou  hast  not  received  ?  And  if  thou  hast  received  : 
why  dost  thou  glory,  as  if  thou  hadst  not  received  it  ?  " 
The  Sacred  Scriptures  are  full  of  testimonies,  where 
Jesus  Christ  exhorts  us  to  practise  humility  and  to 
despise  that  fearful  and  perturbing  sin  of  pride.  We 
should  be  always  in  intimate  union  with  God,  con- 
templating His  Divine  Attributes,  and  not  be  so  rash 
that,  full  of  pride  in  our  miserable,  weak  state,  there 
should  be  verified  in  us  the  words  of  the  Gospel : 
"  He  hath  scattered  the  proud  in  the  conceit  of  their  heart. 
He  hath  put  down  the  mighty  from  their  seat  ".2  The 
Holy  Ghost  assures  us  that  "  God  resisteth  the  proud, 
and  giveth  grace  to  the  humble  ",3 

It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  pride  is  the  vice  which 
most  cruelly  agitates  human  thought,  and  for  that 
reason  does  our  sacred  and  Divine  Keligion  inculcate 
the  constant  practice  of  humility.  "Blessed,"  said 
our  Divine  Lord,  "  are  the  meek  :  for  they  shall  possess 
the  land."4  And  He  will  fill  them  with  blessings 
and  will  raise  them  up.  Alas !  for  the  proud  and 
the  presumptuous !  For  He  will  cast  them  down 
and  will  resist  them.  Jesus  Christ  presents  Himself 
to  us  as  a  perfect  model  of  humility,  for  He  took 
upon  Himself  all  our  iniquities ;  He  suffered  and 
died,  saying :  "  Learn  of  Me,  because  1  am  meek,  and 
humble  of  heart  ".5 

'ICor.  iv.  7.  2  Luke  i.  51-2. 

3  James  iv.  6.  4  Matt.  v.  4. 

6 "  Discite  a  me,  quia  mitis  sum  et  humilis  corde  "  (Matt.  xi.  29). 


THIRD   ARTICLE — PHILOSOPHY.  31 

The  Christian  Keligion  is  the  only  religion  which 
inspires  in  the  humble  mind,  when  that  mind  is 
bowed  in  most  profound  submission,  not  alone  noble 
and  generous  thoughts,  but  even  sublime,  elevated 
ones,  and  of  this  truth  there  exist  numberless  ex- 
amples to  prove  the  assertion.  Omitting  many 
others,  let  us  ponder  what  was  the  illustrious  St. 
Augustine,  with  his  rich  store  of  excellent  and  beau- 
tiful gifts  of  intelligence  and  of  heart,  so  long  as  he 
continued  abandoned  to  his  passions  ?•  Completely 
dominated  by  pride,  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to 
take  the  flight  which  his  lofty  intelligence  was  im- 
pelling him  to  take  until  called  by  God  through  the 
continued  and  fervent  prayers  of  his  pious  mother, 
and  the  winning  and  enrapturing  eloquence  of  a 
Catholic  orator :  then  his  large  capacity  of  mind  be- 
came widened,  his  intelligence  became  enlightened, 
and  his  heart  being  filled  with  a  Divine  fire,  he  went 
forth  like  a  glorious  hero  to  defend  the  Catholic 
Faith,  and  was  justly  held  worthy  to  bear  the  title 
of  "  the  Torch  of  Religion,  Column  of  the  Church,  and 
the  Glory  of  the  human  race  "I  To  this  renowned 
father  and  doctor  are  we  indebted  for  matters  of  the 
highest  and  purest  philosophy,  since  it  is  he  who 
has  best  known  how  to  join  this  philosophy  to  our 
holy  and  Divine  Keligion,  for  he  says  :  "  We  believe 
and  we  teach l  that  philosophy,  that  is  to  say,  love 
of  wisdom,  and  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  are  one 
and  the  same  thing  ". 

1  St.  Augustine,  Book  of  the  True,  Religion. 


FOUETH   AETICLE. 


FOURTH  AETICLE. 

The  necessity  of  the  authority  of  Catholicism  for  restraining 
the  wanderings  of  Reason. 

WE  have  stated  that  the  thought  of  man  constitutes 
his  greatness,  his  high  dignity,  his  felicity,  his  very 
life,  and  that  our  holy  Religion  powerfully  influences 
the  development  of  the  mind  by  divesting  it  of  its 
unbridled  passions,  and  elevating  it  to  high  and 
sublime  meditation.  It  now  remains  to  prove  the 
importance  of  curbing  within  bounds  those  vivid 
intelligences,  which,  actuated  by  a  constant  whirl  of 
activity,  assume,  although  in  vain,  to  investigate  all 
things,  and  to  penetrate  every  secret,  even  what  the 
Infinite  wisdom  has  raised  above  our  reach  !  Hence 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  should  confound 
all  things,  overturn  everything,  and  it  is  an  indu- 
bitable fact  that  such  as  these  would  lead  us  into  a 
universal  scepticism,  unless  held  back  by  an  infallible 
and  Divine  Authority. 

The  state  of  ignorance  into  which  man  sometimes 
falls  towards  the  end  of  his  life  appears  to  me  to  be 
far  more  deplorable  than  that  which  besets  him  on 
entering  life.  What  is  man  before  the  brilliant  and 
beautiful  light  of  truth  illumines  his  limited  intelli- 
gence but  an  indigent,  weak  creature?  For  this 


36  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

tender  being  there  is  no  past  and  there  is  no  future. 
His  weak  eyes  only  see  the  present,  and  even  that 
present  in  a  very  narrowed  way !  If,  on  the  one 
hand,  he  be  deprived  of  the  principal  joys  of  life,  on 
the  other,  he  ignores  its  adversities  and  its  miseries. 
He  lives  without  trials  and  without  solicitude.  If, 
at  times,  he  turns  his  tender,  sweet  looks  towards 
the  horizon  of  the  intellectual  world,  it  is  like  one 
who  turns  his  gaze  in  the  morning  towards  the  East 
before  the  sun  rises.  A  secret  presentiment  tells 
him  of  the  happy,  cheering  advent  of  the  beneficent 
planet  which  is  to  illumine  his  soul,  and  a  thrill 
of  extraordinary  joy  and  true  hope  suddenly  darts 
through  his  frame. 

But  how  faithfully  depict  the  sad  state  of  the  man 
who,  after  he  had  the  happiness  and  joy  of  knowing 
the  truth  in  all  its  brightness  and  splendour,  yet  loses 
this  magnificent  possession,  because  he  attempted  to 
gaze  too  near  by  the  light  of  the  intelligence?  A 
fearful  indifference  to  all  objects  of  highest  impor- 
tance, an  insupportable  anguish  caused  by  doubt, 
the  crushing  weariness  of  his  bitter  life — all  this  is 
the  general  experience  of  man  when  left  to  his  own 
powers,  with  no  guide  than  his  own  wandering 
reason.  Full  of  pride  he  turns  his  steps  away  from 
following  the  firm,  straight  path  of  truth.  At  times 
he  may  perchance  turn  his  languid  looks  towards 
heaven,  but  it  will  be  a  look  without  hope,  because 
his  eyes  cannot  be  opened  to  behold  the  true  light 
but  with  difficulty.  Will  there  still  be  found  men 
to  offer  their  worship  to  Keason,  choosing  her  in  pre- 


FOURTH   ARTICLE.  37 

ference  to  the  excellent  and  sublime  truths  which 
God  Himself  has  revealed  to  us  ?  What  monstrous 
blindness  !  What  an  extravagant  self-love  that  thus 
can  turn  against  itself !  Holy  Religion  is  the  only 
power  that  can  place  a  wholesome  curb  upon  that 
petulant,  domineering  Keason  and  save  it  from  fall- 
ing into  the  deepest  abyss.  This  Divine  Teacher  of 
holy  truths  recommends  us  in  the  first  instance  to 
have  diffidence  in  ourselves,  and  to  consider  the 
necessity  of  humility  as  the  safest  and  firmest 
foundation  of  Dogma  and  Morals.  Always  holy, 
and  ever  infallible,  she  teaches  us  that  we  ourselves 
do  not  possess  the  principle  of  our  existence ;  that 
it  is  only  the  Infinite  Being,  Necessary,  Absolute, 
who  holds  the  principle  of  His  own  existence,  as 
also  that  of  all  other  dependent  beings ;  that  we 
were  created  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,1  but 
what  a  faint  likeness,  and  what  an  imperfect  image  ! 
Our  intelligence  is,  relatively  to  the  Divine  Intelli- 
gence, what  a  handful  of  dust  is  to  the  lofty  mountain 
whose  top  is  lost  in  the  clouds,  what  a  tiny  dewdrop 
is  in  respect  to  the  vast  ocean,  what  an  imperceptible 
spark  of  fire,  which  is  instantly  extinguished,  is  in 
comparison  to  the  resplendent  focus  of  light  which 
proceeds  from  the  Infinite  Goodness  to  enlighten  the 
whole  world,  and  which  will  not  be  extinguished  but 
at  the  consummation  of  all  ages  by  the  Divine  Breath 
of  Eternal  Justice. 

What  increases  the  obduracy  of  our  intelligence 

1  Gen.  i.  26. 


38  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

is  that,  enclosed  in  the  prison  of  the  body,  it  does 
not  perceive,  excepting  across  the  senses,  the  light 
of  Truth,  like  a  hapless  captive  buried  in  a  dark 
dungeon,  who  cannot  see  the  pale  light  of  day  but 
in  an  indirect  manner,  through  a  narrow  grating. 

This,  then,  is  the  state  of  man,  such  as  is  pre- 
sented to  us  by  our  sacred  and  Divine  Keligion. 
From  this  results  a  most  natural  consequence,  that 
is,  that  we  are  all  obliged  to  oppose  the  frequent 
suggestions  of  our  haughty  reason,  particularly  when 
she  attempts  to  instigate  us  to  reject  the  sacred  de- 
posit of  those  sublime  and  wholesome  truths  which 
have  been  handed  down  to  us  by  the  unanimous 
traditions  of  the  people,  hallowed  and  received  by 
all  time,  and  before  which  the  most  singularly  gifted 
and  enlightened  geniuses  have  bent  in  submission 
their  glorious  and  laurel-crowned  brows.  Let  not 
Rationalists  and  godless  Sophists  forget  that  the 
sweet,  harmonious  voice  of  Truth  will  not  resound  in 
their  ears  until  after  they  have  compelled  their  boast- 
ful, haughty  reason  to  suffer  a  veritable  and  legitimate 
humiliation. 

The  most  just,  the  most  wholesome  humiliation 
which  human  intelligence  can  experience  is,  evi- 
dently, that  which  the  Christian  Religion  makes  it 
feel.  Religion  teaches  Reason  a  great  number  of 
truths,  which  fully  satisfies  it,  but  she  also  presents 
to  it  many  which  its  limited  light  cannot  compre- 
hend, "  which  offends  it  and  rudely  wounds  it,"  as  Pascal 
expresses  it.  One  God  in  three  Persons ;  the  In- 
carnation of  the  Eternal  Word ;  the  immolation  of 


FOURTH   ARTICLE.  39 

the  God  Man  upon  the  holy  wood  of  the  Cross  for 
the  profitable  redemption  of  the  human  race;  the 
Mysterious  "Sacrifice,  which  is  renewed  at  every 
instant  upon  our  altars ;  a  God  hidden,  in  order  that 
He  should  become  our  nourishment  under  the  ap- 
pearance of  bread,  and  which  ceases  at  once  to  be 
bread ;  the  salutary  effects  of  grace  upon  the  soul 
which  does  not  abuse  its  liberty.  Ah !  what  sub- 
lime mysteries  are  comprehended  in  the  Catholic 
Symbol ! 

The  magnificent  knowledge  and  teaching  of  these 
Divine  Mysteries  are  not  less  important  or  indis- 
pensable viewed  from  the  Theological  standpoint 
than  viewed  in  the  light  of  Philosophy.  Nourishing 
Reason  with  the  rich  and  wholesome  taste  for 
these  excellent  truths,  repeating  every  moment  to 
her  that  if  she  does  not  admit  them  and  closely 
embrace  them,  there  can  be  no  possible  salvation 
for  her ;  then  it  is  that  Reason  becomes  awed  and 
that  Religion  dominates  her  rebellions  and  represses 
her  insatiable  avidity  for  investigating  everything. 
When  in  the  pursuit  of  Science,  which  demands 
a  great  faith  intimately  united  to  the  intelligence, 
human  reason  reaches  the  mystery,  it  humbly  cries 
out :  "  Highest  God  !  I  who  am  the  smallest  emana- 
tion of  Thy  Infinite  light,  how  shall  I  penetrate 
Thy  incomprehensible  magnificent  Works?" 

Unbelievers  and  Rationalists  !  Science,  even  that 
which  is  called  profane,  what  is  it  but  the  clearest 
and  most  exact  explanation  of  God  in  His  beautiful 
Works  ? 


40  THE   INFLUENCE  OF   CATHOLICISM. 

A  spectacle  full  of  instruction  and  comfort  to 
the  believing  Catholic  is  that  which  is  offered  to  us 
by  those  extraordinary  intelligences,  who  have  no 
other  resource  left  to  them,  in  order  to  be  delivered 
from  absolute  Scepticism,  than  our  holy  Faith.  As- 
cending from  question  to  question,  and  from  doubt 
to  doubt,  they  reach,  fatigued,  to  the  last  step  of  the 
ladder,  to  find  upon  it  nothing  more  than  the 
nothingness  of  chimerical  illusions  !  Still  beholding 
from  thence  the  Cross,  mysteriously  sustained  by  a 
Powerful  Divine  Hand,  they  go  and  rest  at  its  foot, 
and  draw  comfort  for  themselves  by  looking  up  to 
heaven ! 

The  truths  of  our  Holy  Catholic  Faith  are  suffi- 
cient in  themselves  to  nourish  our  intelligence  !  Do 
they  not  embrace  all  visible  and  invisible  things? 
Do  they  not  descend  from  the  Supreme  Creator 
down  to  the  creature,  from  whence  they  impel  us  to 
rise  up  to  the  very  heavens  ?  To  the  Philosopher, 
as  well  as  to  the  Christian,  are  addressed  the  sublime 
and  eloquent  words  :  "  But  one  thing  is  necessary  ",l 

Nevertheless,  as  religious  truths  are  intimately 
united  to  mundane  truths,  if  I  may  so  express 
myself,  from  this  it  results  that  the  intelligence, 
being  constantly  united  to  the  truths  of  faith,  equally 
admits  other  truths  which  it  judged  to  be  uncertain. 
Faith  firmly  and  deeply  implants  on  the  shore  of 
Salvation  an  anchor  which  Providence  casts  out  to 
her  from  the  heights  of  the  heavens ;  then,  advanc- 

1 "  Porro  uuum  est  necessarium  "  (Luke  x.  4). 


FOURTH   ARTICLE.  41 

ing  courageously  towards  the  abyss,  which  God 
leaves  to  our  investigations,  there  becomes  sub- 
merged and  explores  it  in  all  its  meanings.  If  at 
times  the  obscurity  deepens  around  the  spirit,  if 
the  winds  blow  violently  and  lash  the  waves,  in 
sight  of  the  abyss  yawning  before  man  he  exclaims, 
with  suppliant  emotion :  "Lord,  save  me,  lest  1  perish"1 
and  his  faith  has  saved  him  ! 

Tell  us,  0  Pascal  and  Malebranche !  tell  us,  ye 
extraordinary  geniuses,  was  not  this  precisely  that 
which  befell  ye  ?  Desirous  of  resolving  the  questions 
which  more  vividly  interest  mankind,  ye  had  de- 
scended to  the  most  profound  depths  of  reason,  and 
boldly  dared  to  sound  the  foundations  upon  which 
it  rested  !  The  ever-swelling  waves  of  doubt  invaded 
thy  giant  feet,  and  threatened  to  engulph  ye !  The 
reality  of  the  bodies,  the  certitude  of  reason,  life 
itself — all  were  manifested  successively,  like  vague 
illusions,  before  thy  wandering  gaze ! 

Then  you  summoned  the  Catholic  Faith  to  thy 
aid,  that  Faith  which  was  so  firmly  rooted  in  thy 
souls,  and,  leaning  upon  her  indestructible  base,  ye 
traced,  with  sure  hand,  those  great  and  sublime 
thoughts  which  have  been  so  much  admired,  and 
which  have  so  delighted  the  world ! 

1 "  Domine,  salvum  me  fac  "  (Matt.  xiv.  30). 


FIFTH  AKTICLE. 


FIFTH  AKTICLE. 

Continuation  of  the  same  Subject. 

EATIONALISTS  and  Unbelievers  !  If  you  wrest  Faith 
from  the  World,  that  Faith  to  which  as  a  last  re- 
source Reason  appeals  to  and  may  lean  upon,  I 
beseech  of  you  to  comprehend  fully  that  the  goddess 
of  Reason,  to  whom  you  offer  so  much  worship,  will 
engulph  you  into  the  most  horrible  state  of  doubt, 
and  will  take  you  from  error  to  error,  from  precipice 
to  precipice,  until  you  become  buried  in  the  deepest 
abyss  !  Consult  the  experience  of  all  ages,  appeal  to 
the  testimonies  of  the  most  powerful  and  the  most 
enlightened  minds ! 

Who  was  wiser  among  the  Greeks  than  Socrates  ? 
Nevertheless,  we  all  know  what  his  end  was,  after 
having  philosophised  the  whole  of  his  life.  He 
openly  avowed  that  he  had  learnt  nothing  else  but  that 
he  knew  nothing.  Who  more  erudite  than  Pliny  among 
the  Latins?  Yet,  after  extraordinary  labours,  of 
which  we  can,  with  difficulty,  form  even  a  slight 
idea,  he  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion  as  the  former 
sage,  while  this  conviction  of  his  nothingness  wrung 
from  him  at  the  same  time  a  cry  of  despair,  very 
proper  for  confounding  your  pride  !  "  The  only  thing 
that  is  certain,"  he  said, "  is  that  there  is  nothing  certain, 


46  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

and  no  creature  is  more  miserable  or  prouder  than  man" 
If  any  one  permits  himself  to  affirm  any  one  thing 
as  certain,  he  undoubtedly  falls  into  some  gross  error. 
As  the  elegant  Cicero  remarks,  "  There  is  no  absurdity 
which  has  not  been  uttered  by  some  Philosopher". 

You  state  with  arrogance  "  that  Eeligion  petrifies 
thought,  that  she  is  the  great  obstacle  to  human 
intelligence,  and  that  she  envelops  Reason,  like  a 
mummy,  in  the  grave-cloths  of  dogma  and  in  the 
shadows  of  faith".1 

What   an  unfounded  and  audacious  accusation ! 

Is  it  possible  to  offer  a  greater  calumny  against 
our  holiest  and  most  Divine  Religion,  to  which  we 
owe  everything,  and  by  which  we  are  to  obtain  our 
eternal  Salvation  ?  Assuming  that  by  such  insolence 
you  manifest  your  error,  do  you  wish  to  know  what 
our  holy  Religion  does  on  this  point?  We  have 
already  said  it,  and  in  order  to  repeat  it  I  will  re- 
produce the  very  words  of  an  eminent  writer  of  our 
day  :  "  Faith  is  not  death,  it  is  life  "  ;  "  Justus  autern 
ex  fide  vivit  ".2  No.  Faith  does  not  confine  genius 
in  a  dark  prison,  depriving  it  of  space  and  light,  nor 
does  it  convert  into  blind  captives  the  kings  of 
thought.  But  if  it  does  not  do  so,  you  may  say, 
what  is  it  that  it  does  do? 

What  does  Faith  do  ?  Faith  reveals  before  genius 
infinite  horizons  above  the  mists  of  her  dogmas,  and 
in  regard  to  men  who  are  not  like  owls,  which  in- 
stinctively seek  the  shadow  and  the  night,  but  who 

1  P6re  F^lix,  Conferences.  *Ibid. 


FIFTH   ARTICLE.  47 

soar  high  like  the  eagles,  I  know  full  well  what 
Faith  does  in  their  regard — listen  !  In  place  of  clip- 
ping their  wings,  she  makes  them  soar  in  their  flight ; 
instead  of  bandaging  their  eyes,  she  conducts  them 
to  the  heights  of  faith  above  the  clouds  which  en- 
velop the  crowd  of  thinkers,  and,  placing  them  as 
though  upon  a  rock  over  the  immutable  dogma, 
she  opens  a  way  for  them  to  approach  nearer  to 
the  sun ! 

The  shadows  which  still  hover  around  these  men 
are  like  clouds  tinged  with  gold  by  the  light,  and 
which,  far  from  extinguishing  the  light,  increase 
their  ambition  of  beholding,  free  of  all  shadow,  that 
sun  which  even  from  afar  sends  down  upon  them 
such  magnificent  rays.  In  the  sublime  ecstasy  in- 
duced upon  them  by  the  truth,  upon  those  heights 
at  which  Faith  enlightens  and  Hope  elevates  them, 
far  from  lingering  behind,  because  they  have  not 
yet  obtained  the  full  light  which  will  satisfy  their 
intelligence,  they  feel  the  necessity  of  transporting 
their  vivid  curiosity,  and  their  stimulated  investiga- 
tions, into  depths  which  would  even  astonish  Kation- 
alisrn  itself ! 

Divine  Providence,  having  given  us  the  gift  of 
reason  to  serve  us  as  a  guide,  has  no  desire  to 
exclude  her  absolutely  from  all  matters  of  religion, 
nor  in  any  way  to  destroy  her.  He  wishes  her,  it  is 
true,  to  submit  to  His  great  and  sublime  truths, 
but  not  prevent  her  free  exercise,  nor  to  reject  her. 
Otherwise  we  would  have  only  a  vacillating,  uncertain 
faith  ;  a  faith  without  consistency,  forced,  and  devoid 


48  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

of  any  merit  whatsoever.  You  may,  perhaps,  tell 
me  that  these  powerful  and  convincing  motives 
which  impel  us  to  believe  do  not  produce  upon  the 
irreligious  the  same  impressions ;  and  do  you  know 
the  reason  ?  Because  they  do  not  take  the  smallest 
trouble  to  think  upon  them ;  because  they  do  not 
meditate  upon  these  truths,  nor  do  they  examine 
them  or  study  them  in  order  to  understand  them 
well ;  because  they  are  deficient  in  that  firm,  pure 
faith,  and  do  not  possess  a  heart  sufficiently  free 
and  disengaged  to  be  able  to  judge  unbiased  and 
free  from  the  dark  passions  which  preoccupy  the 
intelligence,  and  which  produce  the  moral  death 
of  humanity. 

Daily  do  we  see  rising  up  around  us,  and  even 
in  the  heart  itself  of  Catholicism,  perverse  societies 
of  unprincipled  men,  who,  by  means  of  their  im- 
pieties, profane  the  holiest  things,  and  bring  down 
discredit  upon  the  excellent  service  which  we  should 
give  to  the  King  of  Heaven  and  of  Earth  ;  who  attack 
God  Himself,  and  would  wish  to  erase  from  the 
minds  of  men  the  magnificent  idea  which  has  been 
impressed  with  indelible  characters  of  so  high  a 
Lord ;  who  doubt  even  of  His  Essence,  and  who 
strive,  although  vainly,  to  assure  and  make  it  appear 
that  He  is  an  imaginary  Deity.  Men  who  despise 
His  Commandments  and  His  Worship,  and  who 
hold  as  superstitious  the  homage  which  is  due  to 
Him  ;  who  endeavour,  with  untold  zeal,  to  draw 
away  from  His  Sacred  Altars  His  most  faithful 
servants,  scoffing  at  their  pious  practices,  and  cast- 


FIFTH   ARTICLE.  49 

ing  before  them  the  calumnious,  bold  accusations 
of  hypocrisy  or  simplicity. 

Allow  me  to  ask  you,  in  view  of  all  this :  Is  it 
possible  that  the  refulgent  torch  of  Faith  illumines 
the  weak  intelligences  of  such  ignoble  and  perverse 
men,  when  we  find  them  thus  buried  in  the  pride 
of  the  world  ?  No,  indeed.  For  we  have  only  to 
appeal  to  the  true  teaching  of  history,  and  we  shall 
all  acknowledge  that  individuals,  as  in  the  case  of 
sensual  nations,  reject  all  Divine  thought. 

The  great  advantage,  the  extraordinary  merit  of 
our  holy  Faith  consists  in  being  sufficiently  mys- 
terious in  the  bases  of  its  excellent  sublime  truths 
to  demand  the  most  humble  submission  :  behold 
the  reason  why  the  Son  of  God  said  to  St.  Thomas, 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen  and  have  believed  "-1 

Blessed  is  the  man  who  believes  and  does  not  see, 
because  were  he  to  see  he  would  not  believe,  since 
to  believe  is  to  conform  with  what  is  not  seen; 
blessed  is  he  who  believes  and  does  not  see,  because 
were  he  to  see  his  conformity  would  not  be  a  virtue, 
nor  a  subject  of  reward,  because  it  would  not  depend 
upon  his  will  nor  upon  his  consent. 

We  are  filled  with  true  joy  and  great  admiration, 
when  we  consider  the  infinite  mercy  and  the  supreme 
wisdom  of  our  Lord  and  God  in  wishing  to  save  us 
by  the  sweet  and  harmonious  voice  of  the  Christian 
faith.  It  has  encompassed  all — His  glory  and  our 
sanctification !  I  pray  and  beseech  Him  that  His 

I((  Beati  qui  nonviderunt  et  crediderunt"  (John  xx.  29). 


50  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

Divine  Will  may  be  pleased  to  allow  our  Faith  to 
honour  His  adorable  and  sovereign  Truths,  and  as 
in  love  we  sacrifice  our  hearts,  so,  also,  we  would 
sacrifice,  in  like  manner,  our  intelligences,  by  means 
of  that  same  faith,  and  that  He  may  bestow  on  us 
heaven  as  a  recompense ! 

Because,  what  are  the  truths  proposed  to  us  for 
our  belief,  and  what  are  its  mysteries?  Mysteries 
which  are  very  far  above  our  intelligence,  and  in 
which  Eeason,  however  penetrative  it  may  be,  must 
dash  itself  against  the  stony  bulwarks  which  mark 
its  just  limits,  beyond  which  nought  is  found  but 
a  dark,  deep  chaos  !  And  what  credence  should  we 
give  to  those  mysteries  so  inaccessible  to  human 
reason?  A  belief  so  firm  and  so  absolute,  that 
through  it  we  reject  our  senses,  imposing  silence 
upon  our  reason,  and  subjecting  her  completely  to 
its  sweet  yoke ;  a  belief  so  pure,  that  we  cannot 
listen  to  the  smallest  difficulty,  nor  form  the  smallest 
doubt ;  a  belief  so  full,  and  complete,  and  perfect, 
that  it  should  extend  to  all  the  Articles  of  Faith  which 
we  possess  ;  a  belief,  in  conclusion,  so  resolute  and 
so  superior,  from  which  nothing  can  absolutely 
separate  us,  "neither  tribulation,  nor  distress,  nor 
famine,  nor  nakedness,  nor  danger,  nor  persecution,  nor 
the  sword ;  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  principalities,  nor 
powers  ",1 

This  is  the  great  and  profitable  teaching  which  our 
Divine  Eeligion  has  traced  for  us  in  order  to  save  our 

1  Paul  to  Rom.  viii.  35  and  38. 


FIFTH   ARTICLE.  51 

weak  and  limited  reason  from  leading  us  astray. 
Yet,  presumptuous  and  reckless  intelligences,  through 
their  own  weakness  and  inexperience,  reject,  with 
haughty  contempt,  these  extraordinary  and  sublime 
truths  which  always  constituted,  and  will  ever  con- 
stitute, their  strength  and  comfort.  "  We  cannot 
admit  them!"  they  say.  "What,  then,  will  you 
believe  ?  "  we  demand.  "  Absolutely  nothing,"  they 
insultingly  reply.  And,  shutting  their  eyes  to  the 
true  light,  they  calmly  sleep  away  into  a  slumber  of 
universal  Scepticism. 

Let  us  bend  down  to  listen  to  all  that  is  said 
around  us,  and  read  all  that  is  printed  on  all  sides, 
and  say  whether  this  be  not  a  picture  of  the  general 
state  of  society  ?  This  fearful  state  will  continue  to 
increase  day  by  day  unless  the  Catholic  Religion 
raises  up  in  the  midst  of  this  unwholesome  society 
the  Standard  of  the  Cross,  and  bathes  these  proud, 
enervated  intelligences  in  the  Precious  Blood  of  the 
Divine  Lamb,  the  Sweetest  Jesus,  Who  has  regener- 
ated the  world  in  order  that  we  should  be  made 
worthy  of  His  merits,  and  thus  attain  to  enjoy 
Eternal  Glory  in  the  Mansions  of  the  Blessed. 


SIXTH  AETICLE. 


SIXTH  AKTICLE. 

LETTERS. 

History — Its  definition  and  division — Its  essential  conditions — 
The  influence  which  Catholicism  exercises  upon  it. 

"BELLES-LETTRES"  comprehends,  in  general,  history, 
eloquence  and  poetry.  Let  us  commence  with  history, 
because  it  may  truly  be  said  to  be  the  foundation  of 
literature,  in  which  our  Divine  Eeligion  also  power- 
fully influences. 

General  history  is  the  true  relation  of  all  past  events 
during  the  course  of  the  ages,  their  causes  and  results,  for 
the  instruction,  reformation  and  recreation  of  man. 

Universal  history  is  the  methodical  narration  of  the 
deeds  of  men.  We  can  also  say  that  universal  history 
is  the  one  which  embraces  in  its  fold  every  part  of 
the  world,  and,  omitting  minor  successes,  recounts 
the  most  important  ones.  National  history,  as  its 
name  implies,  is  the  narrative  of  events  which  have 
taken  place  in  a  nation.  In  conclusion  biographical 
history  is  that  which  has  for  its  object  to  relate  the 
life  of  a  man  who  has  powerfully  influenced  his  age, 
and  rendered  himself  notable  through  his  deeds. 
History  is  likewise  divided  into  Sacred,  Ancient, 
Mediaeval,  and  Modern,  which  divisions  may  be  said 
to  be  comprehended  in  the  above  category. 


56  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

The  Sacred  Scriptures  strictly  embrace  the  whole 
of  universal  history,  because  in  both  should  concur 
precisely  three  conditions,  which  are  essential  to 
them,  viz.,  unity  of  origin,  unity  of  object,  and  unity 
of  direction.  Who  will  be  daring  enough  to  deny 
that  there  is  unity  of  origin  in  God,  from  Whom 
all  proceeds ;  and  in  our  first  parents,  whom  God 
created  in  the  beginning  of  time?  Who  can  deny 
that  there  is  unity  of  object  in  God,  the  Universal 
Centre  towards  which  all  things  tend,  principally 
all  the  intelligences  that  have  been  created  by  Him? 
All  things  were  created  by  God,  because  nothing 
existed  before  Him.  It  is,  therefore,  evident  that 
every  existence  has  been  determined  by  God,  and 
that  the  whole  Creation,  with  its  innumerable 
planets  and  worlds,  is  none  other  than  the  magni- 
ficent aureole  of  this  Being,  Absolute,  Supreme, 
Infinite,  Most  Perfect.  No  one  can  deny  the  clear 
and  conclusive  unity  of  direction  in  God,  before 
Whom  all  men  are  alike,  Who  watches  over  all 
creatures  from  the  greatest  and  noblest  down  to  the 
smallest,  meanest  insect  that  creeps  upon  the  earth. 
Never  will  man  be  able  to  destroy  this  unity  of 
direction  in  God,  however  much  he  may  strive  to 
do  so,  because  He  alone  dominates  with  His  Om- 
nipotence the  whole  world,  and  encompasses  with 
His  immense  gaze  the  vast,  sweeping  torrent  of  the 
Ages,  which,  having  had  their  commencement  and 
origin  in  eternity,  will  also  have  their  end  in  that 
same  eternity. 

The   Sacred   Monuments  of  Catholicism  contain 


SIXTH  ARTICLE — LETTERS.  57 

the  primitive  history  of  man  and  of  the  universe ; 
the  history  of  the  Jewish  people,  their  laws,  their 
prophecies  and  miracles,  whose  deposit  had  been 
entrusted  to  them ;  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  His 
teaching,  His  holy  and  sublime  doctrines,  collected 
together  by  the  holy  Apostles ;  and,  lastly,  the  pro- 
phetic history  of  the  society  which  He  Himself 
had  established  upon  an  indestructible  foundation. 
Of  these  two  magnificent  parts,  called  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament,  are  composed  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, a  marvellous  Divine  Book,  whose  beginning 
and  end  is  our  Lord  and  God. 

In  these  Holy  Books  is  found  precisely  this  triple 
unity  of  origin,  object  and  direction,  which  has  been 
accorded  to  it  by  our  Divine  Religion,  or  rather,  it 
is  our  very  Religion,  because  it  is  the  inexhaustible 
fountain  of  all  the  truths  contained  in  them.  The 
historian  who  rejects  this  triple  unity  rejects  also 
the  unity  of  God,  the  true  religion,  abundant  well- 
spring  of  all  truths,  and,  as  a  consequence,  daringly 
despises  the  origin  of  humanity,  the  equality  of 
individuals  before  Divine  Providence,  and,  according 
to  the  expression  of  Fenelon,  "  they  despise  God,  the 
Universe,  the  Fatherland,  and  the  family ".  The 
order  which  the  historian  should  follow  is  engraved 
in  sacred  characters  upon  our  precepts.  It  is  the 
order  which  God  always  enjoins,  which  Catholicism 
promulgates  and  constantly  inculcates,  and  which 
the  intelligence  of  man,  with  true  enthusiasm, 
admires. 

History  in  general,  is,  therefore,  the  public  rela- 


58  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

tion,  the  exact  narrative  of  events  which  have  been 
previously  realised ;  it  is  the  great  book  of  the  human 
life,  in  which  are  inscribed  upon  earth  the  most 
noteworthy  events  of  men,  and  in  accordance  with 
which  they  will  be  justified  or  condemned ;  it  is 
the  impartial  and  exact  judgment  formed  of  the  past 
for  the  profitable  instruction  of  present  and  future 
times.  How  terrible  !  how  powerful  is  the  Tribunal 
of  History !  Never  does  it  employ  its  indulgence 
but  in  regard  to  him  who  has  lived  in  the  most 
complete  ignorance.  This  grand  and  severe  tribunal 
reveals  the  deeds  which  might  be  supposed  for  ever 
buried  in  the  deepest  obscurity. 

The  historian  who  undertakes  to  edit,  on  his  own 
responsibility,  these  judgments  passed  by  a  whole 
generation,  and  often  by  many  successive  genera- 
tions, must  never  lose  sight  of  the  importance, 
the  sublimity  of  his  functions,  ever  keeping  before 
him  those  immutable  principles  by  which  the  life 
of  the  nations,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  individuals, 
are  judged,  without  ever  desisting  from  meditating 
upon  them,  deeply  investigating,  as  much  as  possible, 
their  aims,  in  order  to  be  able  to  form  from  them 
the  solid  foundation  upon  which  his  irrevocable 
decisions  should  rest. 

Historians !  It  is  not  alone  individuals  that  you 
summon  to  the  severe  tribunal  of  Public  Opinion, 
it  is  also  the  nations,  nay,  the  whole  world  itself.  It 
is  not  only  upon  the  life,  which  rapidly  flies  away 
and  disappears  like  the  smoke  under  the  least  breath 
of  air,  that  you  must  pass  your  judgments,  it  is  also 


SIXTH   ARTICLE — LETTERS.  59 

to  the  continued  memory  of  this  life,  which  is  pro- 
longed without  end. 

Holy  Eeligion  continually  teaches  us  that  his- 
torians should  never  lose  sight  of  the  sacred  teaching 
of  her  holy  laws,  and  that  upon  them  they  should 
form  the  indestructible  basis  of  their  conclusions. 
Because,  how  are  they  to  have  a  fixed  rule  for  judg- 
ing human  actions  if  they  rudely  wrench  from  these 
their  reality  ?  Where  will  you "  find  the  basis  of 
political  truths  if  you  remove  from  these  holy  laws 
the  moral  truth  ?  Oh !  what  dismal  consequences 
would  result  from  this,  as  then  there  would  be  no 
reason  for  preferring  order  to  the  most  complete 
anarchy,  or  truth  to  error,  or  the  Divine  Light  to 
the  most  appalling  darkness. 

It  is  important  and  necessary  that  the  historian 
should  reject  this  mood  of  fatalism,  which  completely 
destroys  the  beautiful  life  of  man,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, destroys  the  morality  of  human  actions. 
To  endeavour  in  our  days  to  raise  the  formidable 
statue  of  the  blind  and  sanguinary  deity  of  the 
Juggernaut  of  India  would  be  not  only  to  retrocede 
too  far  back  into  barbarism,  but  it  would  be  the 
greatest  of  absurdities. 

If  man  were  deprived  of  free  will,  then  there  would 
be  for  him  no  possible  distinction  between  vice  and 
virtue ;  the  just  or  unjust  man  would,  in  that  case, 
be  equally  saved  or  condemned,  a  thing  which  could 
not  be  more  illogical  or  more  criminal.  Nevertheless, 
man  remains  ever  under  the  high  and  wise  direction 
of  the  Omnipotent.  He  acts  within  the  circle,  more 


60  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

or  less  extended,  which  is  traced  around  him,  but 
when  he  reaches  the  limit  beyond  which  God  has 
forbidden  him  to  pass,  he  feels  himself  held  back  by 
a  superior  power,  against  which  he  in  vain  would 
try  to  wrestle.  Nor  can  it  be  otherwise;  because, 
who  would  be  so  bereft  of  sense  as  to  believe  he 
could  wrest  from  the  Supreme  Creator  the  dominion 
which  He  has  over  creatures,  which  He  Himself 
has  created  by  the  efficacy  of  His  mere  Word?  Who 
among  His  creatures,  weak  and  impotent,  would  dare 
attempt  to  scale  the  Heavens  and  upset  the  sublime 
plans  of  the  All-powerful  ? 

The  historian,  therefore,  should  ever  keep  before 
his  mind  these  great  principles,  these  excellent  maxims 
of  true  humility,  ever  manifesting  to  the  eyes  of 
his  readers  the  Divine  Providence,  always  solicitous, 
always  full  of  care  for  us,  always  attentive  to  all 
that  happens  upon  earth.  Oh  !  what  a  great  conso- 
lation to  the  weak  is  the  thought  that  were  the 
earth  to  be  subverted  or  shaken,  it  would  not  be  long 
ere  it  would  become  poised  again  firmly  on  its  foun- 
dations, whatever  events  might  agitate  the  world. 
"  Man  becomes  agitated,  but  God  guides  him,"  said 
the  great  and  wise  Fenelon.  When  the  people  of 
God  found  themselves  in  Egypt  a  prey  to  the  greatest 
miseries  under  the  powerful  yoke  of  a  cruel  slavery, 
and  weighed  down  by  almost  insupportable  trials, 
they  fled  with  Moses  to  the  desert  near  Phihahiroth. 
The  hardened  heart  of  Pharaoh  pursued  and  perse- 
cuted them,  sending  against  them  a  formidable  army. 
On  its  approach  the  children  of  Israel  lifted  up  their 


SIXTH   ARTICLE — LETTERS.  61 

eyes,  and  on  beholding  the  Egyptians  were  filled 
with  terror.  In  front  of  them  lay  the  sea,  behind 
them  stood  a  large  army  of  warriors,  and  to  the 
right  and  to  the  left  were  inaccessible  mountains. 
In  this  fearful  stress  and  dismal  situation  the  children 
of  Israel  called  upon  Jehovah,  and  said  to  Moses : 
"  Perhaps  there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt,  therefore  thou 
hast  brought  us  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ",l  Then  Moses, 
in  energetic  tones,  said  :  "  Fear  not,  stand  and  see  the 
great  wonders  of  the  Lord,  which  He  will  do  this  day ; 
for  the  Egyptians,  whom  you  see  now,  you  shall  see  no 
more  for  ever.  Tlie  Lord  will  fight  for  you,  and  you  shall 
hold  your  peace  ".2  He  then  immediately  stretched 
forth  his  hand  over  the  sea.  The  waters  miracu- 
lously stood  still  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  like 
two  stony  walls.  And  the  children  of  Israel  walked 
as  on  dry  land.  Pharaoh  and  his  army  followed  to 
continue  their  persecution  ;  but  the  sublime  and  mys- 
terious breath  of  the  Omnipotent  was  felt,  and  the 
whole  army  was  buried  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Who  is  there  that  on  reading  this  brief  summary  of 
the  world's  history  will  fail  to  perceive  the  Divine 
Finger  of  Providence?  And  who  can  doubt  for  a 
single  moment  that  to  the  historian  belongs  the 
duty  of  drawing  attention  to  the  finger  of  God,  which, 
although  it  does  not  always  appear  to  us  in  an  osten- 
sible manner,  yet  never  forsakes  us  ?  What  a  tender 

1 "  Forsitan  non  erant  sepulcra  in  Egypto,  ideo  tulisti  nos " 
(Exod.  xiv.  11). 

2"Nolite  timere:  state  et  videte.  .  .  .  Dominus  pugnabit  pro 
vobis,  et  vos  tacebitis  "  (Exod.  xiv.  13  and  14). 


62  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

consideration  this  is  for  filling  with  holy  joy  the 
hearts  of  the  sad  and  of  the  unfortunate !  What  a 
wholesome  warning  this  is,  also,  to  the  great  ones 
of  the  earth,  those  who,  despising  charity,  and  for- 
getting their  own  littleness  and  misery,  forget  also 
"  that  they  are  dust,  and  into  dust  shall  return  "  ! 

In  conclusion,  the  historian  ought  to  recount  events 
with  the  most  conscientious  faithfulness.  On  no 
account  is  he  permitted  to  invent,  but,  like  a  true 
and  faithful  witness,  he  must  write  all  the  events, 
such  as  they  are  in  reality,  the  certain  as  certain, 
and  the  doubtful  as  doubtful.  When  he  is  called 
upon  to  judge  events  of  any  importance,  he  must  not 
depend  solely  on  his  own  judgment,  but  on  the  com- 
mon opinion,  which  he  should  interpret  faithfully, 
as  far  as  possible,  so  as  not  to  fall  into  those  grave 
errors  into  which  many  have  fallen,  because  they 
had  the  temerity  to  be  guided  solely  by  their  own 
judgment. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  for  an  instant  by  this  that 
we  wish  to  place  the  historian  in  the  position  of  an 
itinerary  scribbler.  On  the  historian  devolves  the 
duty  of  imparting  to  his  words  the  most  beautiful 
forms  when  expressing  his  well-grounded  ideas.  To 
him  belongs  the  forming  of  the  picture  in  which  all 
the  events  have  been  gathered  together.  To  him 
appertains  the  style,  the  rich  variety  of  colours, 
which  are  more  impressive  than  the  events  them- 
selves. Who  is  not  impressed  by  the  utterances  of 
the  historian,  the  cries  which  so  often  escape  from 
his  impassioned  soul?  Lastly,  to  him,  in  a  word, 


SIXTH   ARTICLE — LETTERS.  63 

must  he  look  for  the  profound  reflections  which  he 
should  make  upon  events,  their  great  and  noble  ideas, 
which  should  be  given  with  that  complete  conviction 
that  passes  from  his  own  intelligence  into  that  of 
his  readers  in  such  a  way  that  they  do  not  become 
involved  in  the  dismal  confusion  which  doubt  natu- 
rally produces,  by  reason  of  the  want  of  verification 
in  the  narrative  of  events  which  are  not  founded  on 
competent  authorities. 

The  historian  who  rejects  these  great  maxims  and 
the  immutable  principles  which  our  Divine  Eeligion 
prescribes  to  him  does  not  comply  with  his  high 
mission.  It  is  impossible  for  him  to  fulfil  the  object 
of  writing  history,  which  is  no  other  than  to  moralise 
or  instruct,  as  he  can  never  moralise  doubt,  and  still 
less  error,  into  which  such  writers  fall  when  they 
are  deficient  in  that  fixed  and  absolute  rule  which 
is  not  to  be  found  but  in  the  bosom  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church. 

To  instruct  is  not  to  abase  the  intelligence  into 
the  depths  of  contradictions ;  it  is  to  teach  how  to 
compare  true  events,  certain  and  legitimate  principles, 
to  deduce  consequences  which  are  also  certain  and 
legitimate;  it  is  to  teach  how  to  distinguish  good 
from  evil,  and  never  to  confound  truth  with  error. 
"  And  how  is  he  to  assert,"  says  an  eminent  writer,1 
"  upon  the  intelligence  an  absolute  judgment  of 
things  and  of  men,  if  he  follows  only  a  vague  rule, 
ill-defined  and  subject  to  all  the  debates  of  opinions, 

1  L'Auteur  des  Grandeurs  du  Catlwlicisme. 


64  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

which  authors  modify  according  to  circumstances  ? 
It  is  not  permitted  to  the  fatalistic  school,  nor  to  the 
moralistic,  to  appreciate  the  past  and  the  present ; 
it  is  only  permitted  to  them  to  estimate  them  when 
they  attain  to  dominate  them,  that  is  to  say,  when 
instead  of  a  criticism  which  can  only  be  relative  or 
arbitrary  is  affirmed  a  criticism  immutable  and 
absolute — the  religious  criticism." 

From  the  great  truths  is  logically  deduced  the 
powerful  influence  which  Catholicism  exercises  upon 
the  only  way  in  which  history  should  be  written. 


SEVENTH  ARTICLE. 


SEVENTH  AETICLE. 

ELOQUENCE. 

Its  definition — Its  history — The  influence  which  is  brought  to 
bear  upon  Eloquence  by  Catholicism — Eloquence  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures. 

ELOQUENCE  is  the  art  of  speaking  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  attain  the  ends  for  which  the  words  are  spoken ; 
that  is  to  say,  to  teach,  to  move,  to  persuade  and 
to  convince.  The  history  of  eloquence  dates  back 
to  the  first  ages  of  the  creation  of  the  world.  God 
Himself  taught  it  to  our  first  parents,  and  it  was 
continued  by  Moses  and  the  Prophets.  The  Apostles 
and  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  raised  eloquence  to  its 
highest  pitch,  shining  like  luminaries  in  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Churches,  which  were  so  greatly  enhanced 
by  St.  John  Chrysostom,  St.  Justin,  the  two  Gregories, 
St.  Basil,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Augustine  and  St.  Ambrose. 
What  sublime  ideas,  what  excellent  and  persuasive 
eloquence  do  we  perceive  in  the  magnificent  dis- 
courses of  these  great  Christian  Apologists !  In 
the  Middle  Ages,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they 
were  enveloped  in  the  fearful  shades  of  darkness  and 
barbarism,  eloquence  was  cultivated  with  singular 
fruit  by  the  renowned  St.  Bernard,  Albertus  Magnus, 


68  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  and  St.  Bonaventure,  who 
filled  those  memorable  times  with  splendour. 

In  modern  times  our  Mother  the  Church  has  not 
desisted  for  a  single  instant  to  consecrate  her  most 
enlightened  sons  to  the  profitable  study  of  eloquence, 
while  their  writings  are  the  admiration  of  the 
whole  civilised  world.  Who  is  not  astonished  at 
the  beauty  of  the  Funeral  Orations  of  the  illustrious 
Bossuet  ?  Who  does  not  feel  enraptured  when 
reading  the  Dialogues  on  Eloquence  by  the  immortal 
Fenelon  ?  Who  is  not  charmed  with  the  Lenten  dis- 
courses of  the  celebrated  Massillon  ?  Who  can  read, 
without  being  filled  with  enthusiasm,  the  eloquent 
writings  of  Cardinal  Maury,  the  excellent  works  of 
Bourdaloue,  and  the  Ecclesiastical  Ehetoric  of  Fray 
Luis  de  Granada?  How  can  we  resist  calling  up 
the  names  of  St.  John  of  the  Cross,  of  Cervantes, 
Maldouado,  Sepulveda,  Luis  Vives,  Cano,  Victoria, 
and  many  others,  who  have  bequeathed  to  us  eminent 
works  ? 

"  From  this  beautiful  alliance  of  letters  with  Faith 
springs  freely  a  clear  stream  of  happy  inspirations. 
Who  would  be  able  to  enumerate  or  enhance  them  ? 
The  name  alone  of  Calderon  would  suffice  to  induce 
us  to  admire  that  gentle  union,  that  unutterable 
marvel  of  the  spirit  of  piety  invigorating  the  flights 
of  genius.  The  heavens  of  the  Lord,  with  their 
mystical  revelations ;  the  two  hemispheres,  with 
their  prodigies  of  nature ;  the  sea,  with  uprising 
waves  lashed  by  the  wrath  of  the  Highest,  or  with 
its  tranquil  waters  like  mirrors,  reflecting  the  passing 


SEVENTH  ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.        69 

of  the  luminary  of  night ;  the  elevation  of  the  moun- 
tain, upon  the  top  of  which  God  was  wont  to  speak 
with  His  Prophets,  and  the  depths  of  the  valleys 
through  which  softly  murmurs  the  breeze ;  the 
whirlwind  of  the  world,  with  its  many  changes, 
and  the  silence  and  retirement  of  the  forests,  which 
invite  to  prayer;  is  there  a  single  conception,  or 
the  smallest  tint  in  that  varied  forest  of  the  Muses, 
which  has  not  been  interpreted  a  thousand  times 
over  by  our  poets  and  our  orators  in  defending  the 
religious  idea  of  the  severe  code  of  Christianity?  " 1 

Never  has  Catholicism  been  a  clog  to  genius,  and 
never  has  she  opposed  herself  to  the  progress  of  the 
civilisation  of  the  world,  as  has  been  unjustly  asserted 
by  ignorant  Protestants. 

Against  this  unjust  accusation  rise  up  in  contra- 
diction the  wise  aims  of  her  mission,  the  great 
impulse  which  she  has  given  to  the  progress  of  the 
Sciences  and  the  ardent  love  which  she  has  always 
professed  for  letters.  Kemember  the  letter  of  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  Leo  X.  to  a  Protestant  Prince  in 
which  he  says :  "I  have  always  loved  good  learned 
erudition ;  this  love  was  born  with  me,  and  age  has 
only  strengthened  it,  because  I  always  remarked  that 
those  who  cultivate  letters  are  heartfelt  lovers  of  the 
dogmas  of  faith,  and  that  they  are  the  ornaments 
and  the  glory  of  the  Catholic  Church  ".2 


1  Arboli,   Oraison  Fundbre  on  Miguel  de   Cervantes,  and  other 
Spanish  men  of  genius. 

2  Leo  X.,  Letter  to  Henry  VIII. 


70  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

How  much  has  our  Sacred  Religion  suffered  in 
regard  to  the  civilisation  of  the  world ! 

St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  in  opposition  to  the 
Apostate  Julian,  exclaims  in  deeply  sorrowful  tones  : 
"  Who  could  have  put  into  your  mind  the  thought  of 
forbidding  to  us  the  use  of  the  Sciences  ?  There  is 
nothing  I  hold  dearer,  after  the  interests  of  heaven 
and  the  hope  of  Eternity,  than  the  Sciences,  and  it 
is  but  just  that  I  should  take  their  side  and  defend 
them  with  all  the  vigour  of  my  word  and  the  fire  of 
my  heart." l 

No  one  can  possibly  doubt  the  strength,  the  great 
power,  the  extraordinary  dominion  which  speech 
wields.  Who  can  doubt  that  to  its  influence  is  due 
the  formation  of  great  empires  ?  To  what  else  did 
Greece  owe  its  extension  and  its  authority  but  to  the 
influence  of  the  word?  It  was  not  by  the  thought 
but  by  the  word  that  God  created  the  world.  "For 
He  spoke  and  they  were  made."  2  It  is  by  the  word  that 
man,  formed  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  exer- 
cises over  creation  a  sovereign  authority,  dominating 
and  directing  the  animal  world,  and  governing  his 
fellow-beings.  Good  orators,  such  as  Demosthenes, 
St.  Bernard,  Fenelon,  Massillon,  and  others,  were 
able  to  lead  the  most  indocile  people  with  as  much 
ease  as  a  skilled  horseman  leads  a  fiery  steed.  He 
speaks  to  the  animal  with  all  precaution  ;  he  caresses 
it  at  the  same  time  that  he  places  a  wholesome 
curb  and  bridle  upon  it.  After  this  he  bids  the 

1  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Discourse  4  against  Julian. 
2"  Dixit,  et  facta  sunt"  (Ps.  xxxii.  9). 


SEVENTH  ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.        71 

animal  stop,  and  the  horse  remains  motionless. 
"  Advance,"  he  cries,  and  at  the  word  of  command 
the  noble  creature  gallops  away,  braving  the  greatest 
dangers. 

Eloquence  possesses  a  prodigious  virtue,  nay,  almost 
a  Divine  one.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  greatest  talent 
which  God  has  granted  to  man.  Theology,  philo- 
sophy, history,  poetry — all,  all  is  found  in  eloquence  ! 
It  might  truly  be  said  that  it  is  the  whole  of  man, 
for  it  exacts  the  simultaneous  exercise  of  all  his 
faculties.  Let  us  watch  a  brilliant  orator  captivat- 
ing the  multitude  around  him.  His  imagination, 
vividly  excited,  imparts  to  his  thoughts  the  most 
beautiful  forms,  the  most  seductive  colouring.  His 
words,  slow  and  circumspect  at  commencing  his 
discourse,  are  similar  to  the  rill,  which,  escaping 
from  the  spring  with  a  soft  murmur,  becomes 
strengthened  by  degrees,  and,  little  by  little,  assumes 
power  until  it  acquires  a  complete  fulness  and  mani- 
fests itself  in  all  its  strength.  At  one  time  his  words 
flow  like  a  majestic  river,  which  calmly  carries  its 
beneficent  waters  through  fertile  lands  ;  at  another, 
like  a  torrent  which  leaps  onwards  and  carries  every- 
thing before  it  in  its  tumultuous  career. 

The  audience,  captivated,  yields  to  the  smallest 
impulsion  of  the  orator's  dominating  word.  For  a 
time  there  reigns  a  deep  silence,  and  the  people  seem 
to  hold  their  breath.  Suddenly,  from  one  extremity 
of  the  auditory  rises  a  gentle  murmur  of  approbation, 
which  is  very  soon  communicated  to  the  opposite 
extremity  of  the  crowd,  like  an  electric  shock.  The 


72  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

orator  himself  suffers  at  the  same  time  as  he  imparts 
his  telling  speech  and  moves  his  audience. 

It  is  not  alone  his  eloquent  word  which  serves  to 
express  his  sublime,  grand  thoughts  ;  his  posture,  his 
movements,  his  looks,  his  flashing  eyes,  his  flushed 
face — all  in  him  proclaims  the  conviction  of  his  heart, 
and  contributes  to  establish  it  in  the  minds  and 
breasts  of  his  hearers,  who,  enraptured,  listen  to 
him,  deeply  moved,  and  even  shed  abundant  tears. 

No  one  doubts  that  all  these  effects  may  be  pro- 
duced by  the  general  orator,  but  what  we  have 
described  applies  more  particularly  to  the  sacred 
orator.  As  we  have  stated,  is  it  not  to  Catholicism 
that  eloquence  owes  her  greatest  marvels  and  most 
astounding  effects?  How  abundant,  how  useful, 
how  numerous,  how  important  are  the  riches  which 
our  Divine  Religion  lavishes  on  the  orator  ! 

Those  great  mysteries,  the  firm  belief  in  which  is 
of  such  importance  to  our  souls,  those  moral  truths 
which  the  sacred  orator  unfolds,  do  they  not  claim 
for  him  an  incontestable  superiority  over  the  secular 
orator?  The  latter,  at  times,  must  no  doubt  treat 
with  subjects  of  immense  interest  to  mankind ;  but, 
generally  speaking,  he  defends  at  best  minor  interests, 
which  apply  to  certain  times  and  places,  while  the 
Catholic  orator  belongs  to  all,  and  every  place  and 
time,  because  the  interests  he  advances,  and  the 
truths  he  announces,  concern  the  whole  of  humanity. 

How  can  the  Protestant  orator  stand  in  the  same 
category  as  the  Catholic  one  after  so  daringly  reject- 
ing the  most  Sacred  Dogmas  ?  And  what  Dogmas 


SEVENTH  ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.        73 

have  Protestants  rejected  ?  They  have  rejected  the 
Dogma  of  the  Real  Presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
Blessed  Eucharist,  that  inexhaustible  fountain  of 
most  vivid  emotions,  that  great  mystery  which  is 
renewed  every  day,  and  which,  from  the  heights  of 
the  heavens,  is  enacted  and  brings  down  the  Just 
One  upon  earth  to  renew,  in  an  unbloody  manner,  the 
great  Sacrifice  of  the  Cross.  They  reject  the  most 
excellent  gift  which  has  been  given  to  men  by  the 
Saviour  of  the  World. 

What  beautiful  scenes,  what  magnificent  pictures 
are  presented  to  the  sacred  orator  by  the  noble 
daughter  of  Nazareth !  Whether  we  contemplate 
this  purest  Virgin,  enriched  by  all  the  virtues,  whom 
the  world  salutes  as  being  the  comfort  and  the  refuge 
of  all  who  have  recourse  to  her  in  full  confidence.  Or 
whether  we  are  filled  with  admiration  on  beholding 
her  in  the  Stable,  adoring  her  Divine  Infant,  together 
with  the  humble  shepherds  and  the  wise  men.  Or 
whether  we  consider  her  as  civilising  the  world  and 
interesting  herself  in  all  the  works  whose  fulfilment 
concerns  the  Christian  world  ;  or  assisting  in  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Word  for  the  redemption  of  the 
human  race,  and  in  the  foundation  of  the  Holy 
Church  ;  or  associating  herself  in  the  social  regenera- 
tion of  the  Nations.  Or  whether  we  think  of  her  as 
listening  with  kind  ear  to  the  prayer  of  the  pilot, 
terror-stricken  at  the  tempest  which  threatens  to 
destroy  his  frail  barque,  and  calming  with  her  sweet 
smile  the  fury  of  the  angry  waves.  Or  whether  we 
enthusiastically  admire  her  as  she  stands  on  Calvary, 


74  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

praying  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  or  consider  her,  later 
on,  as  being  carried  by  the  Angels  to  the  highest 
heavens,  whence  she  casts  looks  of  mercy  upon  her 
dearly-loved  children!  "Ah!  holiest  Virgin!"  I 
will  ever  exclaim  with  the  Evangelist,  "  may  you  be 
a  thousand  times  blessed  among  women,  hail !  full  of 
grace,  for  the  Lord  is  with  thee."1  "Many  daughters 
have  gathered  together  riches :  thou  hast  surpassed  them 
all " ; 2  because  you  are  the  ever-flowing  fountain  of 
the  richest  treasures  of  goodness,  of  beauty,  and  of 
mercy,  and  your  image  alone  is  a  most  eloquent 
teaching,  and  a  perennial  well-spring  of  ineffable 
consolations  and  endless  joy ! 

What  beautiful  deeds  do  we  not  also  find  in  the 
lives  of  the  Saints  as  themes  for  the  sacred  orator  ? 
Those  glorious  martyrs,  whose  courage  is  incompar- 
able, and  those  hermits,  exhaling  in  arid  deserts  the 
rich  fragrance  of  virtues,  and  those  timid  virgins, 
gifted  with  all  the  charms  of  innocence  and  sanctity, 
who  have  been  elevated  to  the  very  heavens,  carried 
on  the  powerful  wings  of  Divine  Love !  No  Pro- 
testant orator  can  speak  to  his  misguided  brethren 
concerning  "  that  Church  which  suffers  ".  He  cannot, 
as  does  the  Catholic  orator,  excite  the  commiseration 
of  the  living  on  behalf  of  the  dead,  for  the  relief  of 
souls  which  are  passing  through  a  great,  yet  tem- 
porary punishment ;  that,  by  their  prayers  and  tears, 
the  Divine  Justice  may  be  moved  to  convert  their 
torments  and  sighs  into  the  sweet  songs  of  Eternal 
Joys! 

1  Luke  i.  28.  2  Prov.  xxxi.  29. 


SEVENTH  ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.  75 

If  Protestants  have  severed  the  unity  which  gathers 
together  all  human  intelligences,  making  them  to 
converge  towards  a  common  centre  with  the  celestial 
intelligences,  giving  us  the  most  beautiful  idea  we 
can  form  of  the  magnificent  harmony  of  creation  ;  if 
all  their  mutilated  dogmas  rest  on  the  fragile  basis  of 
their  own  dismal  reason,  can  they  teach  as  though 
possessing  authority  like  Jesus  Christ  ?  By  no  means. 
They  discuss,  it  is  true ;  but  placing  themselves  in 
contradiction  to  their  principles,  and  even  to  their 
consciences,  they  cast  aside  from  the  Church  her 
imposing  authority,  and  communicate  to  the  unwary 
the  uncertain  results  of  all  their  discussions.  Their 
false  teaching  cannot  be  compared  with  the  true, 
majestic  and  Divine  teaching  of  Catholicism ;  that 
teaching,  which,  coming  down  from  the  highest 
heavens  upon  the  heart  of  man,  produces  in  it  the 
most  profound,  the  most  consoling,  the  sweetest 
sentiments.  The  chair  of  Protestantism,  resting  as 
it  does  on  the  ruinous  foundations  of  pride,  can  only 
be  occupied  and  filled  by  the  proud  man.  The 
Catholic  Keligion  has  raised  eloquence,  not  only  in 
the  Tribune,  but  to  the  throne,  and  this  throne  is 
the  Christian  "Cathedra"  to  which  God  has  given 
for  foundations  faith  and  humility.  In  it  is  found 
the  Catholic  priest  suspended,  as  it  were,  between 
heaven  and  earth,  to  hear  the  Divine  Word,  and,  on 
receiving  It,  he  repeats  It  to  his  people.  In  that 
sacred  spot  we  behold  not  the  man ;  there  we  see 
only  the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  because  the  words 
he  pronounces  are  not,  in  truth,  his  own,  but  they 


76  THE   INFLUENCE  OF   CATHOLICISM. 

are  those  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  sent  him  :  "  Verba  mea 
non  sunt  mea,  sed  ejus,  qui misit  me".  What  he  teaches 
in  the  holy  and  majestic  Temple,  where  all  things 
contribute  to  exalt  his  imagination,  and  which  affords 
living  and  magnificent  colouring  to  move  his  audi- 
ence, is  taught,  at  the  same  time,  throughout  all 
the  nations,  and  in  every  place  on  the  globe  ;  what 
he  repeats  to-day  has  been  spoken  in  all  ages.  With 
the  Evangelists  and  the  Apostles,  he  teaches  the 
Divine  morale  of  our  adorable  Saviour;  with  the 
Prophets,  he  announces  the  happy  or  the  sad  future 
of  the  people,  according  as  these  love  or  despise  their 
supreme  Creator ;  with  the  Patriarchs,  he  teaches 
man  that  this  life,  so  short  and  miserable,  is  a  most 
bitter  pilgrimage,  one  which  can  only  be  sweetened 
by  the  hope  of  an  eternal  life. 

It  is  undeniable  that  in  the  sacred  writings  the 
orator  finds  an  immeasurable  and  most  abundant 
fountain  of  the  purest  eloquence.  Do  you  desire  to 
speak  to  the  human  intelligence  ?  Do  you  seek  to 
adorn  your  eloquent  discourses  with  deep,  sublime, 
magnificent  thoughts  which  shall  amaze  your  audi- 
ence ?  Deeply  study  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  you 
will  not  pass  a  single  page  without  adding  many 
elevated  thoughts,  energetic,  sublime,  because  there 
is  not  a  single  page  in  which  is  not  found  a  great 
object  to  move,  to  impress,  and  to  marvel  over,  pre- 
sented by  God  Himself.  There  is  no  single  treatise 
on  literature  in  which  the  beauty  of  the  following 
words  are  not  admired:  "And  God  said:  'Be  light 


SEVENTH   ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.  77 

made'.  And  light  was  made."1  "He  who  is.  The 
Heavens  are  His  throne,  and  the  earth  is  as  a  footstool 
for  His  Feet.  The  earth  is  struck  dumb  in  His  Presence." 
What  admirable,  what  grand  and  deep  thoughts  will 
you  find  also  in  those  wholesome  precepts  wherein 
are  inculcated  the  beautiful  and  noble  virtue  of 
Charity ! 

It  is  in  the  Holy  Bible  that  are  found  inscribed 
those  Divine  dramas,  whose  aims  spring  from  the 
Heavens,  and  which  find  an  echo  in,  and  reanimate 
and  profoundly  move,  our  hearts.  Who  can  read 
without  emotion  the  admirable  history  of  Joseph, 
son  of  Jacob?  It  is  with  difficulty  that  tears  can  be 
restrained  when,  meditating  on  this  tender  passage 
of  the  Bible,  we  seem  to  see  him  wiping  his  own 
tears ;  and,  above  all,  when  we  seem  to  hear  him 
exclaim:  "I  am  Joseph;  is  my  father  living?  I  am 
Joseph,  your  brother,  whom  you  sold  into  Egypt."2  This 
most  beautiful  passage  of  the  Scriptures  used  to 
make  Voltaire  himself  weep  from  admiration ;  he 
who,  although  he  did  not  read  the  Bible  with  the 
eyes  of  Catholic  Faith,  nevertheless  thus  expresses 
himself :  "  I  confess  to  you,  that  the  majesty  of  the 
Scriptures  truly  astonishes  me,  the  holiness  of  the 
Gospels  speak  to  my  heart.  Behold  the  books  of 
the  Philosophers  with  all  their  pomp ;  how  small 
they  appear  by  their  side !  " 

The  wailings  and  cries  of  the  Prophet,  he  who 
seemed  to  have  equalled  the  Lamentations  with  the 

1  Gen.  i.  3.  2  Gen.  xlv.  3  and  4. 


78  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

bitterness  of  the  calamities  themselves,  do  they  not 
find  an  echo  in  every  heart  ?  When  we  read  of  the 
Queen  of  Nations,  in  former  times  so  populous,  and 
now  converted  into  an  arid  waste ;  when  in  spirit 
we  hear  the  Priests  and  the  Virgins  wailing  day  and 
night,  the  tender  little  ones  weepingly  asking  for 
bread  and  unable  to  procure  any,  we  at  once  cry  out 
with  Jeremias :  "  Who  will  give  water  to  my  head,  and 
a  Fountain  of  tears  to  my  eyes  ?  And  I  will  weep  night 
and  day  for  the  misfortunes  of  Jerusalem."  l  In  truth 
we  shall  find  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  all  that  can 
move  our  hearts  to  noble  and  tender  emotions.  In 
this  most  beautiful  book  is  found  smouldering  that 
holy  and  Divine  fire  which  our  Redeemer  brought  on 
earth,  with  which  to  unite  closely  all  men  to  Himself ; 
in  it  we  enthusiastically  admire  the  most  tender 
sentiments,  the  most  consoling  and  also  the  most 
encouraging,  which  the  human  heart  can  experience. 

Orators !  if  at  any  time  you  have  to  address  those 
who  are  labouring  under  the  weight  of  the  hatred 
and  the  ill-will  of  men,  let  them  hear  the  beautiful 
and  magnificent  language  of  the  Holy  Scriptures : 
"  Blessed  are  ye,  when  they  shall  revile  you  and  speak  all 
that  is  evil  against  you.  Be  glad  and  rejoice,  for  your 
reward  is  very  great  in  heaven."*  Who  has  not  read 
with  deepest  emotion  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son,  forgetting  in  the  fatherly  arms  his  wanderings 
and  his  dissolute  life  ? 

The  language,  the  beauty  of  expression  which  we 

1  Jer.  ix.  1.  2  Matt.  v.  11-2. 


SEVENTH   ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.  79 

observe  in  the  Holy  Bible  causes  in  us  an  enthusi- 
astic admiration.  How  concise  the  narrative,  what 
precision,  what  vividness,  what  majesty  do  we  find 
in  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch  !  What  power,  what 
energy  so  incomparable,  what  sublime  aspirations  in 
the  magnificent  book  of  the  Psalms  !  Who  is  there 
that  does  not  admire  the  beauty  and  the  enchanting 
simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  the  imposing 
grandeur  of  the  Epistles  ?  Who  is  not  astonished, 
moved,  and  charmed  by  the  interesting  narrative  of 
the  Apocalypse  ? 

In  conclusion,  we  affirm  that  if  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church  possessed  a  grand  style,  enrapturing  and 
majestic,  it  is  because  they  dedicated  themselves  to 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  became  imbued  with 
their  magnificent  language. 

The  splendour  which  we  so  much  admire  in  the 
beautiful  style  of  these  writers,  is  oftentimes  a  re- 
flection of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  The  same  effect  is 
observable  in  all  our  most  noted  masters  of  literature ; 
it  is  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures  that  they  are  indebted 
for  their  style,  which  is  no  less  elevated  than  their 
thoughts.  "  Suppress  the  Bible  along  with  imagina- 
tion," said  an  illustrious  member  of  the  Eeal  Aca- 
ddmia  of  Spain,  "  and  you  will  have  suppressed 
what  is  beautiful  in  the  great  literature  of  Spain,  or 
you  will,  at  least,  despoil  it  of  its  most  sublime 
flights,  of  its  most  splendid  adornments,  of  its  noble 
pomp  and  its  holy  magnificence." l 

1  Valdegamas,  Discourse  pronounced  on  his  reception  into  the 
Real  Academia  of  Spain, 


80  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

What  we  have  said  of  the  orator  may  also  be 
well  applied  to  the  writer,  because  our  Holy  Religion 
also  powerfully  influences  written  eloquence.  Let  us 
read  our  great  Apologists,  both  ancient  and  modern — 
all  those  who  have  dedicated  themselves  to  the  study 
of  belles-lettres  under  the  shelter  of  Catholicism — and 
what  precision,  what  grandeur,  what  sublimity  do 
we  not  find  in  their  ideas  ?  What  force  of  expression, 
what  eloquence  in  their  words  which  convey  their 
thoughts  to  the  extreme  ends  of  the  globe,  and  are 
preserved  for  ages  !  And  when  these  eminent  writers 
treat  upon  a  subject  of  universal  interest,  how  they 
fill  the  world  with  enthusiasm  and  admiration. 

They  also  instruct,  individually,  at  times,  if  I  may 
so  express  myself.  They  speak  to  the  heart  as  a 
good  friend  speaks  to  his  friend.  Of  this  kind  are 
the  Spiritual  Letters  of  the  memorable  Fenelon.  How 
charming  are  these  letters,  and  how  captivating  is 
their  sweet  and  amiable  simplicity !  Yet,  in  this 
class  of  eloquence  there  is  nothing  to  equal  the 
beautiful  book  of  the  Imitation  of  Jesus  Christ.  What 
a  divine,  enrapturing  book !  What  an  inexplicable 
union  do  we  find  in  it !  Let  incredulity  show  us 
whether,  outside  Catholicism,  there  is  any  composi- 
tion, I  do  not  say  that  can  be  compared  to  it,  but 
that  has  any  similarity  with  it.  It  is  impossible  to 
read  a  page  without  feeling  emotion.  I  will  state  a 
reflection  which  many  have  made  upon  it.  "  How 
is  it  that  in  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the  intelligence 
was  so  uncultured,  and  the  heart  completely  delivered 
up  to  the  grossest  passions,  there  should  have  existed 


SEVENTH   ARTICLE — ELOQUENCE.  81 

a  Solitary  who  should  have  found  that  measure  of 
expression,  that  perfect  knowledge  of  man,  which, 
in  our  days,  astonishes  even  the  most  enlightened 
masters  of  the  spiritual  life  ?  Who  had  instructed 
him  so  wonderfully  in  the  mysteries  of  eloquence 
and  of  the  heart?  " 

To  this  reflection  and  question  we  will  reply 
with  joy  and  enthusiasm,  "  Our  holy  Catholic 
Faith.  Yes  !  that  lively  Faith,  ardent  and  Divine, 
which  has  saved  and  so  highly  illustrated  the 
World."1  Yes  !  we  say  it  with  the  deepest  convic- 
tion, this  grand  and  magnificent  book  is  the  clearest, 
the  most  conclusive,  and  the  most  convincing  testi- 
mony to  the  Divinity  of  our  Sacred  Keligion,  and  of 
the  powerful  influence  which  this  Divine  Teacher 
exercises  over  eloquence. 

1  Hsec  est  victoria,  quse  vincit  mundum,  fides  nostra  "  (Epist.  B. 
Joannis,  v.  4). 


EIGHTH  AKTICLE. 


EIGHTH  AKTICLE. 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Poetry — Biblical  Poetry  is  superior 
to  the  Pagan.1 

I  KNOW  not  upon  what  foundation  unbelievers  base 
their  assertions  when  they  vainly  attempt  to  main- 
tain that  Catholicity  is  hostile  to  poetry.  What  an 
error  !  Let  them  lay  aside  the  Christian  Religion,  and 
they  will  at  once  clip  the  wings  of  the  genius  of  the 
poet,  and  it  will  most  undoubtedly  fall  to  the  ground, 
enveloped  in  the  woeful  abomination  of  this  world, 
so  full  of  abjection  and  of  misery. 

But,  on  the  contrary,  when,  having  faith  for  a 
guide,  the  horizon  of  poetry  becomes  clear,  and  its 
limits  extended  before  the  gaze  of  the  poet  in  the 
immensity  of  God,  faith  becomes  united  to  charity, 
which  is  pure  love,  which  sustains  and  elevates  the 
heart  of  man  to  the  celestial  regions.  No  one  can 
possibly  deny  this  incontestable  truth  ;  yet  there  are 
some  who,  dragged  by  the  violent,  sweeping  currents 
of  their  own  reason,  dare  to  maintain  that  Pagan 
mythology  is  more  favourable  to  poetry  than  our 


1  In  the  arrangement  of  this  article,  and  those  that  may  follow, 
I  shall  make  use  of  a  work  entitled  Le  Gdnie  du  CatJiolicisme,  from 
which  I  have  derived  many  of  the  chief  proofs,  although  in  a 
different  form. 


86  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

Holy  Eeligion.  Those  who  think  in  this  absurd 
manner  are  miserably  mistaken. 

How  much  more  full  and  complete  is  Eeligion, 
since  we  find  in  it  more  truth :in  its  mysteries,  in  its 
morals,  and  in  its  cultus  !  Is  it,  therefore,  less 
favourable  to  poetic  genius  than  to  any  other  talent? 
God  Almighty  never  gives  error  as  food  for  genius. 
To  say  the  contrary  would  be  to  blaspheme ;  it  would 
be  to  ridicule  and  highly  offend  the  Divinity.  False- 
hood is  never  advantageous,  whilst  truth  in  every 
way  possesses  a  secret  virtue,  which  nothing  can 
replace  for  its  want,  because  truth  proceeds  from  God 
Himself. 

It  has  been  said  with  much  truth  that  never  has 
the  description  been  adequately  made  of  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  Blessed.  The  great  Apostle  has  afforded 
us  the  principal  reason  of  this  omission  when  he 
affirms  that  we  are  unable  to  conceive  anything 
which  can  be  compared  to  the  rewards  promised  us 
in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Nevertheless,  if  any- 
thing could  afford  us  even  so  much  as  an  imperfect 
idea  of  that  magnificent  and  eternal  mansion,  so 
incomprehensible  to  our  limited  intelligences,  it  is 
undoubtedly  our  Catholic  Faith. 

Let  us  read  what  has  been  said  to  this  effect  by  a 
believer,  at  the  very  time  when  the  Divine  Faith, 
which  had  been  the  first  cause  of  his  glory  and  of 
his  power,  had  become  weakened  in  his  soul.  It 
runs  as  follows  : — 

"  I  saw  like  an  immovable  Ocean,  immense,  in- 
finite, and  in  this  Ocean  three  oceans  :  an  ocean  of 


EIGHTH  ARTICLE.  87 

Power,  an  ocean  of  Light,  an  ocean  of  Life  ;  and  these 
three  oceans,  mingling  together  without  becoming 
confounded,  formed  an  Ocean  itself,  an  equal,  indi- 
visible unity,  absolute,  eternal.  And  this  Unity  was 
That  which  Is  ;  and  in  the  depths  of  this  Being  an 
ineffable  knot  united  together  Three  Persons,  which 
were  named  to  me,  and  their  names  were  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Spirit ;  and  in  this  union  there 
existed  a  mysterious  generation,  a  mysterious  breath, 
living,  fecund ;  and  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Spirit  were  That  which  Is.  And  the  Father  appeared 
to  me  like  a  Power,  which,  within  the  Infinite  Being, 
One  with  Him,  was  no  more  than  one  act,  perma- 
nent, complete,  illimitable,  which  is  the  same  Infinite 
Being.  And  the  Son  appeared  to  me  like  a  permanent 
Word,  complete,  limitless,  that  dictates  what  the 
power  of  the  Father  works,  which  is  what  is  the 
Infinite  Being.  And  the  Spirit  appeared  to  me  like 
love,  like  effusion,  like  a  mutual  inspiration  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  animating  them  with  a 
common  life,  animating  them  by  a  permanent  life, 
complete,  limitless,  the  Infinite  Being.  And  these 
three  Beings  were  One,  and  these  Three  were  God, 
and  embraced  each  other,  and  were  united  under  the 
impenetrable  Sanctuary  of  the  substance  One ;  and 
this  embrace,  this  union  was  realised  in  the  bosom  of 
the  immensity  of  the  Eternal  Joy,  of  the  eternal 
enjoyment  of  That  which  Is. 

"  And  in  the  depths  of  this  ocean  of  the  Being 
there  swam,  and  floated,  and  extended  the  Creation 
in  the  manner  of  an  island,  which  incessantly  seeks 


88  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

to  widen  its  shores  in  the  midst  of  a  limitless  sea. 
It  expanded  like  a  flower  which  throws  out  its  roots 
in  the  waters,  and  that  shoots  up  its  tall  stems  and 
opens  its  corolla  on  the  surface.  And  I  saw  other 
beings  chained  one  to  another,  and  I  could  see  them 
produce  and  unfold  in  their  innumerable  variety, 
feeding  upon  a  sap  which  never  becomes  exhausted 
of  power,  and  of  light,  and  of  life,  of  That  which  Is. 
And  that  which  had  been  formerly  hidden  from  me 
became  manifested  to  my  gaze,  which  now  was  not 
curtailed  by  the  material  cover  of  the  essences.  Un- 
fettered from  all  earthly  impediments,  I  proceeded 
from  world  to  world,  similarly  to  the  spirit  here 
below,  which  goes  from  thought  to  thought ;  and 
after  having  been  inundated,  lost  in  those  marvels 
of  power,  and  of  wisdom,  and  of  love,  I  sank  and  lost 
myself  in  that  same  origin  of  love,  and  of  wisdom, 
and  of  power,  and  then  I  experienced  all  that  is  the 
Fatherland ;  and  I  was  satiated  with  light,  and  my 
soul,  ravished  up  by  the  waves  of  harmony,  slumbered 
upon  the  celestial  depths  in  an  unspeakable  ecstasy. 
"After  this  I  saw  the  Christ  on  the  right  of  His 
Father  resplendent  with  an  immortal  glory.  And 
I  saw  Him  also,  like  a  mystical  Lamb,  Immolated 
upon  an  Altar.  Ten  thousand  angels,  and  all  the  men 
ransomed  by  His  Blood,  surrounded  the  Lamb,  and 
were  singing  His  praises  and  returning  Him  thanks 
in  the  language  of  the  Heavens.  And  one  drop  of 
the  Blood  of  the  Lamb  fell  upon  nature,  weakened 
and  sick,  and  I  saw  it  become  transfigured,  and  all 
the  creatures  which  it  enclosed  quickened  with  a 


EIGHTH   ARTICLE.  89 

new  life,  and  all  lifted  up  their  voice,  and  this  voice 
said  :  "Holy  !  Holy  !  Holy  is  He  who  has  destroyed 
evil  and  has  conquered  death  ! 

"  And  the  Son  leaned  on  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
and  the  Spirit  covered  them  with  His  Shadow,  and 
between  them  there  was  a  Divine  mystery,  and  the 
Heavens,  in  silence,  became  agitated." 

Let  us  compare  merely  these  last  words  with  the 
following  verses  which  have  been  so  justly  lauded : 
"  Annuit  et  totum  nutu  tremefecit  Olympum  ".l  What  a 
difference  !  We  shall  perchance  find  the  same  beauty 
of  imagery  and  expression,  but  how  are  we  to  find 
the  same  loftiness  and  the  same  rectitude  of  thought? 

Even  this  very  verse  "Annuit,  etc.,"  which  is  one 
of  the  most  select  of  Pagan  poetry,  how  can  one 
compare  it  with  the  •'*  Bespicit  terram,  et  facit  earn 
tremere.  Monies,  sicut  cer  a,  fluxerunt  a  facie  ejus.  Tangit 
monies,  et  fumigant "  of  the  inspired  David?  How 
can  we  ever  compare  the  praises  which  Virgil  directs 
to  Augustus  with  the  magnificent  canticle  of  the 
divine  poet  Moses,  when  he  returns  thanks  to  the 
God  of  Israel  after  he  has  passed  through  the  Bed 
Sea?  Thus  sings  Moses:  "  Fortitudo  mea,  et  laus 
mea  Dominus,  et  factus  est  mihi  in  salutem  ".  One  only 
breath  of  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  sufficed  to  bury 
Pharaoh  and  his  army  in  the  sea,  to  destroy  those 
who  persecuted  the  people  of  God  :  "  Flavit  spiritus 
tuus,  et  operuit  eos  mare  :  submersi  sunt  qiiasi  plumbum 
in  aquis  vehementibus  ",2 

1 "  He  assented  and  all  Olympus  trembled  at  his  nod  "  (Virgil). 
2  Exod.  xv.  10. 


90  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

How  compare  the  power  of  the  God  Jupiter,  whom 
the  poet  Ovid  presents  to  us  casting  rays  upon  the 
Titans,  who  scaled  the  heavens  to  make  a  ferocious 
warfare — "  Turn  pater  omnipotens  misso  perfregit  Olym- 
pum  Fulmine  et  excussit  subjecto  Pelion  Ossae"1 — with 
the  sublimity  and  the  greatness  of  the  God  of  David, 
Who  laughs  at  His  enemies — "  Qui  habitat  in  calls 
irridebit  eos  :  et  Dominus  subsannabit  eos" — and  Who 
destroys  not  only  the  impious,  but  even  the  very 
place  from  which  the  proud  had  risen?  "  Vidi  im- 
pium  super exaltatum,  et  elevatum  sicut  cedros  Libani. 
Et  transivi,  et  ecce  non  erat :  et  qu&sivi  eum,  et  non  est 
inventus  locus  ejus."z 

How  can  we  place  the  God  of  Moses,  of  David,  of 
the  Prophets,  and  of  the  Apostles,  Who  is  our  God 
and  Lord,  in  comparison  with  the  senseless  divinities 
of  Paganism?  How  can  we  offer  the  incense  of 
poetry  to  that  crowd  of  sanguinary  gods  and  false 
prophets,  who  only  employ  themselves  in  deceiving, 
and  who  excite  to  laughter  even  the  very  children  ? 
How  can  a  poet  draw  inspiration  from  that  irritating 
and  scandalous  affinity  which  is  found  between  the 
heaven  and  the  hell  of  the  Pagans  ?  Can  they  per- 
chance possibly  reconcile  evil  and  good,  vice  with 
virtue,  error  and  truth  ?  Impossible  !  Therefore 

1  But  these  the  Sire 

Omnipotent,  with  lightning  bolt  through  all 
Olympus  flashing,  hurled  adown,  and  dashed 
Ossa  from  Pelion  headlong. 

Metamorphoses,  Book  i.,  186  to  188. 

Translated  by  Henry  King,  M.A.,  1871. 
2  Ps.  xxxvi.  35-6. 


EIGHTH   ARTICLE.  91 

there  can  be  no  affinity  between  heaven  and  hell. 
The  one  was  made  by  God  to  be  the  dwelling-place 
of  angels,  of  the  saints,  and  of  the  just.  The  other 
was  formed  by  sin.  A  proud  Archangel  fell  from 
the  highest  heavens  down  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
the  infernal  abyss  because  he  rebelled  against  the 
Omnipotent,  and  with  the  rebound  of  his  immeasur- 
able fall  the  whole  world  shook,  that  world  which 
its  Divine  Author  had  just  created  ;  that  world  which 
His  only  begotten  Son  hastened  to  poise  firmly  again, 
dying  on  a  shameful  cross  to  regenerate  and  save  it ! 
The  grandeur  of  the  Supreme  Lord  of  heaven  and 
of  earth  can  never  be  compared  with  the  nothingness 
of  that  miserable  Pagan  divinity  which,  according  to 
Lista,  "  was  supposed  to  be  divided  among  the  Great 
Lords  of  Olympus,  like  sovereignty  in  the  feudal 
code  ".  The  God  of  the  Bible,  the  God  of  Catholicism 
embraces  and  dominates  the  entire  universe,  an  only 
word  sufficing  to  create  it.  "  Dixit,  et  facia  sunt." 
"Fiat  lux,  et  facia,  est  lux."  The  beautiful  picture 
which  the  Divine  poet  David  shows  in  Psalm  ciii., 
when,  contemplating  nature,  he  directs  to  its  Supreme 
Author  blessings  and  praises,  very  loudly  proclaims 
that  never  will  it  be  possible  to  reconcile  the  artificial 
poetry  of  Paganism,  bereft  of  ideas,  with  the  grandeur, 
the  magnificence  and  the  sublimity  of  Biblical  poetry. 
Thus  sings  the  inspired  David  :  "  Benedic  anima  mea 
Domino  :  Domine  Deus  meus  magnificatus  es  vehementer. 
.  .  .  Extendens  ccelum  sicut  pellem :  Qui  tegis  aqiiis 
superiora  ejus.  Qui  ponis  nubem  ascensum  tuum :  qui 
ambulas  super  pennas  ventorum.  Quifacis  Angelas  tuos." 


92  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

Truly  is  He  not  a  magnificent  God,  He  who  calls 
upon  the  light  to  be  His  raiment.  He  who  stretches 
the  heavens,  like  one  who  unfolds  a  curtain ;  who 
poises  the  world  upon  most  sure  foundations ;  who 
measures  the  depths  of  the  oceans,  and  commands 
them  perpetually  to  move  ?  Yes  !  all  is  sublime,  and 
so  much  the  more  sublime  because  all  is  wise ;  it 
fills  the  understanding  and  exalts  the  imagination, 
because  it  is  the  lively  light  of  Truth,  which  allows 
itself  to  be  translated  by  Art,  communicating  to  it 
eternal  and  undying  resplendencies. 

There  is  nothing  comparable  in  force  and  energy 
to  the  following  passage  of  the  Bible,  wherein  the 
Holy  Spirit,  speaking  in  the  language  of  men,  places 
before  us  the  Omnipotent  in  wrath  against  erring 
humanity : — 

"  The  earth  shook  and  trembled ;  the  foundations  of 
the  mountains  were  troubled  and  were  moved,  because  He 
was  angry  with  them. 

"  There  went  up  a  smoke  in  His  wrath  :  and  a  fire  flamed 
from  His  face  :  coals  were  kindled  by  it. 

"  He  bcnved  the  heavens,  and  came  down  :  and  darkness 
was  under  His  feet. 

"And  He  ascended  upon  the  cherubim,  and  He  flew ; 
He  flew  upon  the  wings  of  the  winds. 

"  And  He  made  darkness  His  covert,  His  pavilion  round 
about  Him  :  dark  waters  in  the  clouds  of  the  air. 

"At  the  brightness  that  was  before  Him  the  clouds 
passed,  hail  and  coals  of  fire. 

"  And  the  Lord  thundered  from  heaven,  and  the  Highest 
gave  His  voice  :  hail  and  coals  of  fire. 


EIGHTH   ARTICLE.  93 

"  And  He  sent  forth  His  arrows,  and  He  scattered  them  : 
He  multiplied  lightnings,  and  troubled  them. 

"  Then  the  fountains  of  waters  appeared,  and  the  founda- 
tions of  the  world  were  discovered  : 

11  At  Thy  rebuke,  0  Lord,  at  the  blast  of  the  spirit  of 
Thy  wrath."1 

If  this  passage  is  rich  in  grandeur,  sublimity  and 
magnificence,  the  following  one  is  no  less  so  in  which 
David,  addressing  all  men,  vividly  and  energetically 
calls  upon  them  to  acknowledge  and  understand  the 
true  God : — 

"  0  clap  your  hands,  all  ye  nations  :  shout  unto  God 
with  the  voice  of  joy,  For  the  Lord  is  high,  terrible  : 
a  great  King  over  all  the  earth.  He  hath  subdued  the 
people  under  us  ;  and  the  nations  under  our  feet."  2 

This  powerful  call  to  the  true  Light,  this  fervent 
voice  which  spontaneously  springs  from  the  pure, 
ardent  heart  of  the  divine  poet,  shines  in  all  his 
grand  and  sublime  compositions.  Hence  unbelievers 
are  blind  to  truth  who  pretend  to  maintain  that 
Pagan  poetry  is  superior  to  Biblical  poetry.  This 
would  be  simply  impossible,  because  the  poets  of 
Paganism  drew  their  inspirations  from  a  blind 
divinity,  extravagant  and  absurd,  whilst  the  poets  of 
the  sacred  Bible  found  their  inspiration  in  a  most 
Wise  God,  Immense,  Omnipotent,  Infinite;  their 
chaunts  participating  of  eternity,  their  inflamed 
accents  confided  to  the  chords  of  their  sacred  lyres, 
are  echoed  throughout  the  whole  universe,  and 

1  Ps.  xvii.  8-16.  2Ps.  xlvi. 


94  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

therefore  all  the  poets  of  Catholic  nations  imbibe, 
without  ever  being  satiated,  from  those  inexhaustible 
fountains  into  which  the  Most  High  has  poured  His 
infinite  light,  and  are  compositions  which  are  uni- 
versally and  enthusiastically  admired,  and  which 
even  the  non-Christian  poets  cannot  help  seeking, 
and  drawing  from.  To  what  is  the  celebrated  lyric 
writer  Kousseau  indebted  for  a  great  portion  of  his 
glory  and  renown,  but  to  the  magnificent  psalms  of 
David?  Who  can  fail  to  read  with  delight  those 
beautiful  and  majestic  verses,  although  it  is  a  poetry 
very  inferior  to  the  original,  from  whence  Eousseau 
himself  drew  them? 

"  Les  deux  instruisent  la  terre 
A  rSverer  leur  Auteur. 
Tout  ce  que  leur  globe  enserre 
Celtbre  un  Dieu  Createur." 

I  would  be  too  diffuse  were  I  to  treat  here  of  all 
the  great  compositions  of  authors  who  have  drawn 
their  inspirations  from  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  All 
those  gigantic  conceptions  which  we  find  in  the 
" Divina  Commedia,"  in  the  "Paradise  Lost,"  in  the 
"Jerusalem  Delivered,"  in  "Paul  and  Virginia,"  in 
"  Telemachus,"  and  in  many  others,  from  whence 
have  they  sprung,  but  from  the  rich  and  perennial 
springs  of  truth,  of  splendour,  of  beauty,  and  of 
magnificence  that  are  enclosed  in  the  Holy  Bible ! 

With  much  truth  does  Donoso  say  that  "  the 
Bible  is  a  book  which  we  read  every  day,  and  every 
night,  and  it  is  a  book  which  we  never  finish  read- 


EIGHTH   ARTICLE.  95 

ing".  "If  you  suppress  the  Bible  along  with 
imagination,"  says  another  of  our  illustrious  littera- 
teurs, "tell  me  what  remains  of  the  great,  and  the 
spiritual,  and  the  beautiful  in  the  literature  of  the 
last  twenty  centuries  ?  " 

"Even  in  Philosophy,  in  the  Arts,  in  languages, 
in  all  intellectual  culture,"  says  Schlegel,  "the 
influence  exercised  by  the  Bible  has  been  great  in 
regard  to  all  Christian  nations."  "  How  much  greater 
should  its  influence  be  upon  poetry,  with  its  char- 
acters beautifully  figured,  and  deeply  symbolical," 
says  Chateaubriand. 

If  we  examine,  one  by  one,  the  compositions  of 
the  Catholic  poets,  we  shall  observe  that  they  have 
all  been  inspired  by  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  And 
from  this  it  follows  that  some  are  energetic  and 
profound,  desirous  of  imitating  Moses  when  he 
depicts  our  God,  the  Creator,  and  the  Omnipotent ; 
others  are  grand,  and  yet,  at  the  same  time,  humble, 
endeavouring  to  copy  David  when  he  admirably 
describes  the  magnificence  and  mercy  of  the  Lord 
of  heaven  and  of  earth  ;  others  manifest  themselves 
sad  and  wailing,  in  imitation  of  Job  where  he  so 
vividly  describes  the  touch  of  Divine  Justice ; 
others  again  are  tragical  and  sublime,  like  Jeremias 
on  beholding  the  fearful  ruins  of  his  beloved  Jerusa- 
lem ;  while  yet  again  others  appear  sentimental 
and  sweet,  like  to  Isaias  when  he  announces  the 
humiliations  and  the  cruel  torments  which  the 
Divine  Eedeemer  was  to  endure  at  the  hands  of 
the  human  race. 


96  THE   INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

All  is  grand,  magnificent  and  sublime  in  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  but  the  most  extraordinary  of 
its  books,  as  regards  thought  and  expression,  is,  un- 
doubtedly, the  Apocalypse,  where  we  can  imagine 
we  actually  feel  that  "  He  cometh  with  the  clouds,  and 
every  eye  shall  see  Him,  and,  they  also  that  pierced  Him. 
And  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  bewail  themselves 
because  of  Him.  Even  so.  Amen.  I  am  Alpha  and 
Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  saith  the  Lord  God, 
who  is,  and  who  was,  and  who  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." l 

There  is  nothing  to  be  compared  to  the  grandeur 
of  these  versicles,  not  even  the  highly  lauded  verses 
which  we  read  in  the  opening  of  the  "  Avernus  "  of 
Virgil:  "  Ibant  obscuri  sola  sub  nocteperumbram".  .  .  .2 

This  passage,  so  beautiful  and  pathetic,  has  been 
perfectly  reproduced  by  Dante,  with  his  extraordinary 
genius,  when  penning  the  famous  inscription  which 
is  read  on  the  entrance  door  of  his  "  Inferno,"  and  which 
is  couched  in  these  beautiful  verses  : — 

"  Per  me  si  va  nella  citta1  dolente, 
Per  me  si  va  nel  'eterno  dolore, 
Per  me  si  va  tra  la  perduta  genie,. 

Lasciate  ogni  speranza,  voi  ch'  entrate" 

All  those  who  read  both  compositions  will  observe 
the  same  beauties  in  the  Latin  poet  as  in  the  Italian 
one.  "  In  these  three  repeated  Per  me  si  va,"  says  a 
learned  writer,3  "is  supposed  to  be  felt  the  icy 


1  Apocalypse  i.  2  JUneid,  book  vi. 

3  Chateaubriand. 


EIGHTH   ARTICLE.  97 

agonies  of  the  Christian.  The  '  Lasciate  ogni  spe- 
ranza'  is  comparable  to  the  finest  outburst  in  the 
'Avernus'  of  Virgil." 

But  all  these  words,  however  strong  and  terrible 
their  expression  may  be,  how  can  they  bear  any 
comparison  with  those  words  which  the  Divine 
Judge  will  pronounce  on  the  day  of  Judgment  against 
the  reprobates,  words  which  will  precipitate  them 
into  the  very  depths  of  hell :  "  Depart  from  Me,  you 
cursed,  into  everlasting  fire"?1 

There  can  be  no  possible  comparison  between 
Pagan  poets  and  the  beautiful,  sublime  poetry  of  the 
Bible,  in  the  same  way  as  there  can  be  no  compari- 
son between  the  intelligence  of  man  and  the  Infinite 
Intelligence,  nor  between  the  shadow  of  truth  and 
Truth  Itself,  which  is  God! 

1  Matt.  xxv.  41. 


NINTH  ABTICLE. 


NINTH  AETICLE. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE  SAME  SUBJECT. 

New  sources  of  inspiration  which  Catholicism  offers  to  the 
poet — Dangers  which  the  poet  is  exposed  to  if  left  to 
himself. 

THEEE  are  many  who,  in  truth,  deceive  themselves 
when  they  believe  that  Catholicism,  enclosed  in  her 
own  sanctuary,  occupies  herself  solely  with  the  sal- 
vation of  souls,  and  that,  outside  this  most  important 
sphere,  her  actions  are  completely  null.  It  is  evident 
that  Catholicism  sanctifies  souls,  because  this  is  her 
principal  mission ;  but  who  can  even  so  much  as 
doubt  that  it  effects  this  sanctification  in  a  grand, 
powerful,  energetic  and  sublime  manner,  which 
exalts  all  the  faculties  of  man  ?  Placed  in  the 
centre  of  the  world,  in  order  to  raise  up  to  God 
Himself  the  homage  of  men,  she  distributes  celestial 
blessings  with  equity,  manifesting  to  them  the  just 
rewards  of  eternal  bliss,  while  at  the  same  time  she 
shows  also  the  just  punishment  of  evil  by  eternal 
misery.  Oh,  what  a  vast  field  this  offers  to  the 
genius  of  the  poet  !  What  grand  and  sublime 
subjects  are  represented  by  our  Divine  Religion  for 
his  meditations  ! 


102  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

It  is  indubitable  that  Purgatory,  the  place  of 
purification,  wherein  souls  are  cleansed  of  every 
slight  spot  and  stain,  is  a  great  means  of  inspiration 
offered  by  Catholicism  to  the  genius  of  the  poet. 
Who  is  not  filled  with  enthusiasm  when  meditating 
upon  this  place  of  temporary  expiation,  that  con- 
ception of  a  state  which  so  perfectly  reconciles 
Justice  and  Mercy,  those  two  Divine  attributes 
which  appear  so  opposed  to  one  another,  yet  which 
are  only  so  in  appearance  ?  It  is  evident  and  satis- 
factory to  reason  that  there  should  be  this  scale  of 
suffering,  in  which  souls  can  expiate  their  sins,  in 
proportion  to  the  guilt  incurred,  and  in  proportion  to 
the  place  they  occupy  between  the  eternity  of  pain 
and  the  eternity  of  felicity.  Our  sighs,  our  tears, 
our  prayers,  all  our  good  works  rise  from  earth  up 
to  heaven  as  offerings  and  expiations  for  the  suffer- 
ing souls,  that  so  they  may  become  purified,  and 
may  then  go  radiantly,  with  the  angels,  up  to  the 
mansions  of  the  Just ! 

Modern  poets  !  are  you  not  touched  and  impressed 
when  you  witness  the  tender  solicitude,  the  holy 
fervent  love  which  animates  the  good  son  as  he 
weeps  over  the  tomb  of  a  beloved  parent,  that 
of  a  mother  leaning  over  the  grave  of  her  loved 
child,  of  the  friend  over  that  of  his  friend  ?  Bards 
of  the  earth  !  let  your  voices  resound  in  praise  of 
this  Divine  idea  in  all  your  sweet  and  melodious 
songs.  Sing  the  sorrows  of  your  brethren  as  you 
would  do  your  own.  Leave  aside  those  profane 
songs  that  have  served  to  stain  the  once  resplendent 


NINTH   ARTICLE.  103 

purity  of  those  very  souls  which  are  now  expiat- 
ing a  moment  of  guilty  pleasure  by  a  whole  age  of 
fearful  torments.  Cast  over  your  harps  the  crape 
of  mourning.  Let  your  pious  harmonies  rise  up  to 
heaven  on  the  holy  wings  of  prayer  in  order  to 
appease  the  Divine  wrath,  so  justly  irritated  against 
us. 

Nature  offers  another  source  and  means  of  inspira- 
tion to  the  poet,  if  he  views  her  in  the  light  in  which 
our  Divine  Keligion  represents  her.  0  ye  un- 
believing poets  !  do  you  not  see  everywhere  rising 
before  your  view  this  earth,  so  full  of  verdure,  of 
freshness  and  of  life,  at  the  Voice  of  the  Supreme 
Creator?  The  King  of  Nature,  man,  disobeys  the 
absolute  will  of  God,  and  all  things  become  instantly 
changed.  God,  in  just  punishment  of  the  disobedience 
of  our  first  parents,  cursed  the  earth,  covering  it  with 
thorns  and  briers ;  the  animals  which  He  had  created 
to  embellish  nature  He  scatters  on  all  sides  in  terror 
and  fright ;  He  condemns  man  to  eat  his  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  his  brow,  in  this  valley  of  tears ;  the 
woman,  that  beautiful  creation,  He  condemns  to 
bring  forth  in  labour — "In  dolore paries  filios" — those 
beings  which  are  to  continue  this  hapless  existence. 
The  earth  is  seen  reddened  with  the  blood  of  Abel 
on  account  of  the  cruel  fratricide  of  his  brother 
Cain.  Then  does  Death  commence  to  commit  its 
horrible  devastations.  It  is  not  the  crimes  of  a  few 
individuals  which  quickly  stain  the  land ;  perversity 
becomes  general,  and  demands  a  retributive  justice, 
and  the  whole  world  perishes  in  the  waters  of  the 


104  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

deluge — Noah  and  his  family  alone  are  saved,  on 
account  of  their  virtue.  The  sons  of  Noah  return 
to  people  the  globe — alas  !  to  fill  it  with  crimes,  with 
abjection,  and  with  misery. 

But  now  it  is  no  longer  Justice  which  proposes  to 
regenerate  the  earth,  it  is  Mercy.  The  heavens  bow 
down  in  awe  at  the  Divine  Word  taking  flesh  in 
the  womb  of  a  humble  virgin.  In  an  instant  the 
world  is  filled  with  splendour  and  with  sanctity, 
because  the  Son  of  God  suffered,  in  order  to  ransom 
it,  injuries,  countless  sorrows,  and  the  most  shameful 
death  on  the  Cross.  From  the  firmly  planted  foot 
of  this  sublime  Cross  His  disciples  go  forth,  entrusted 
with  the  work  of  continuing  its  highest  mission.  It 
is  our  Holy  Church  which  unfolds  and  expands  in 
a  most  admirable  manner.  As  ancient  as  man,  this 
Divine  Mother  must  needs  accompany  him  to  the 
end  of  his  pilgrimage  upon  earth.  What  prodigious 
effects  does  this  excellent  Teacher  work  on  all  sides  ! 
What  notable  and  admirable  personages  does  she 
summon  up  to  appear  on  the  stage  of  the  world ! 
The  Patriarchs,  who  still  preserve  a  shadow  of  that 
immortality  which  was  to  be  the  recompense  of 
sinless  man.  Others  are  the  Prophets,  before  whose 
eyes  had  been  revealed  the  future.  Again,  the 
Martyrs,  carrying  with  extraordinary  intrepidity 
the  palm  of  victory.  They  are  our  Knights  with- 
out fear  and  without  any  manner  of  reproach. 

How  small  do  the  heroes  of  Paganism  appear 
to  us  in  presence  of  our  Christian  heroes !  Ajax 
trembled  and  fled  from  the  presence  of  Hector,  who 


NINTH   ARTICLE.  105 

himself  trembled  and  fled  before  Achilles ;  but  the 
lowliest  and  least  favoured  of  our  Knights  never 
trembled  or  fled  in  presence  of  the  most  terrible 
adversary,  nor  even  in  presence  of  death  itself.  Yes  ! 
We  proclaim  it  loudly,  the  Catholic  warrior  is  superior 
to  all  other  warriors,  because  he  has  for  a  solid  foun- 
dation the  virtues  of  Christian  faith. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Pagan  poets  have  done  all 
that  is  possible,  from  a  human  point  of  view,  when 
writing  such  beautiful  things  respecting  their  divi- 
nities ;  but  all  these  things,  however  beautiful  they 
may  be,  do  they  leave  anything  truly  lovely  and  in- 
teresting in  the  depths  of  our  hearts?  What  are 
the  results  left  on  the  soul  by  all  these  grand  beauties? 

Ah !  how  much  more  highly  favoured  is  the  Catho- 
lic poet  in  his  solitude,  wherein  he  has  God  for  his 
companion !  His  sylvan  woods,  freed  from  that 
dismal  crowd  of  ridiculous  gods,  have  become  filled 
with  an  immense  Divinity.  The  gift  of  prophecy 
and  of  wisdom,  the  mysteries  of  religion  seem  to 
reside  in  its  sacred  depths.  We  might  say  that  the 
Catholic  poet  finds  himself  alone  in  the  depths  of 
the  woods,  but  it  is  not  so ;  because  the  intelligence 
of  man,  assisted  by  the  Divine  Light,  easily  fills  the 
great  spaces  of  nature,  and  one  only  thought  of  his 
soul  is  far  more  vast  than  all  the  solitudes  of  the 
earth. 

It  is  evident  that  our  Divine  Eeligion  offers  a  class 
of  poetry  far  higher  than  that  which  is  offered  us  by 
Paganism.  A  ship  is  tossing  on  the  ocean,  and  in 
danger  of  being  wrecked  ;  the  chaplain,  by  means  of 


106       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

words  which  purify  souls,  absolves  each  one  of  the 
beings  on  board  from  his  faults ;  he  directs  to  Heaven 
fervent  prayer,  which  in  the  midst  of  the  whirlwind 
of  the  storm  rises  like  a  spirit  from  the  wreck  to 
the  God  of  the  Tempest.  The  ocean  heaves  and 
divides  its  waters,  ready  to  engulph  the  hapless 
mariners ;  the  waves,  rising  up  with  melancholy  wail- 
ing, dash  among  the  rocks  and  seem  to  be  chanting 
a  funeral  dirge.  In  an  instant  a  ray  of  light  gleams 
in  the  midst  of  the  storm ;  the  Star  of  the  Sea, 
Mary,  the  Patroness  of  Mariners,  appears  in  the 
centre  of  the  dark  cloud.  In  her  arms  she  holds 
the  Divine  Child,  and  calms  the  fury  of  the  waves 
with  her  smile.  0  enchanting  religion !  which 
opposes  to  all  that  nature  holds  most  terrible  what 
heaven  has  of  sweetest — to  the  tempest  on  the  ocean, 
a  little  Child  and  a  tender  Mother  ! 

But  our  Divine  Religion,  not  satisfied  with  simply 
offering  the  poet  important  subjects  and  rich  ma- 
terials, also  assists  him  in  the  execution  of  his  work. 
We  have  already  said  it,  "the  poet  is  the  man  of 
solitude,  of  interior  recollection  and  of  meditation  ". 
If  the  greater  portion  of  the  works  of  the  present 
day  are  deficient  of  thought  and  are  weak  in  expres- 
sion, it  is  because  their  authors,  perturbed  in  mind, 
and  carried  along  by  the  whirl  of  business  and  of 
material  joys,  always  work  in  great  precipitation,  in 
the  manner  of  a  dense  cloud  which  does  not  allow 
us  to  pierce  through  the  haze,  and  see  more  than 
a  slight  conceit  which  very  quickly  disappears  alto- 
gether. The  works  of  man,  more  particularly  poetry, 


NINTH   ARTICLE.  107 

demand  a  conscientious  labour,  meditation  and  soli- 
tude. Ye  poets !  ye  who  have  chosen  an  arduous 
subject,  do  ye  wish  to  succeed?  Withdraw  from 
the  bustle  of  the  world,  at  least  for  a  time ;  go  and 
meditate  beneath  the  shades  of  a  wood  ;  go  and  pray 
in  an  ancient  cathedral,  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  and 
near  the  tombs  ;  ask  of  those  very  sons  of  solitude 
the  difficult  practice  of  silence  and  of  meditation. 
Do  you  seek  to  depict  nature?  Study  beforehand 
to  know  her.  Do  you  wish  to  speak  of  man  ?  Enter 
into  your  own  selves  and  convert  your  hearts.  Do 
your  aspirations  tend  towards  God  ?  Ever  listen 
with  attention  and  respect  to  what  is  taught  us  by 
our  holy  Catholic  Faith. 

Lastly,  Keligion  is  well  calculated  to  prevent  the 
most  grave  and  multiplied  wanderings  of  poetry. 
The  first  danger  to  which  the  poet  is  exposed  is 
that  very  retirement  in  which  he  is  obliged  to  live 
oftentimes.  A  solitary  wanderer  among  paths  of 
thought  little  known,  once  he  takes  a  false  direction 
he  becomes  separated,  with  extraordinary  rapidity, 
from  his  object.  At  length  the  light  disappears, 
nigh-t  covers  him  with  her  darksome  mantle,  and 
finally  precipitates  him  into  the  abyss. 

A  second  danger  to  the  poet  is  the  elevation  itself 
of  his  thoughts.  To  please  the  public  he  rises  and 
takes  a  flight  even  to  the  Heavens.  Do  we  not  per- 
ceive an  immense  danger  in  this  elevation  of  thought  ? 
The  poet  loses  sight  of  the  earth  from  which  he  has 
departed,  and  back  to  which  he  has  to  descend.  He 
ignores  the  Hand  which  lifted  him  up,  and  he  no 


108  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

longer  knows  himself;  he  attempts  to  rise  still 
higher,  but  in  vain  ;  his  head  becomes  giddy,  his 
thoughts  wander,  and  if  he  does  not  quickly  seek 
refuge  in  Beligion,  his  complete  ruin  is  certain. 

Poetry  is  also  dangerous  on  account  of  the  beauty 
of  its  expression,  and  of  the  harmony  of  its  language. 
Modern  Poets !  you  think  not  that  you  wander 
away  when  walking  through  those  paths  covered 
with  flowers  ;  but  bear  in  mind  that  those  who 
follow  you  imbibe  and  participate  in  your  illusion. 

Had  Voltaire  recounted  in  a  common,  usual  way 
the  great  infamies  of  that  Poem  which  rendered  him 
so  guilty  in  presence  of  the  Christian  Beligion,  he 
would  have  filled  the  whole  of  France  with  indigna- 
tion, he  would  undoubtedly  have  aroused  in  her 
that  moral  sense  which  is  difficult  to  smother ;  but 
he  covered  with  the  beautiful  flowers  of  poetry 
the  degrading  corruption  of  his  thoughts,  and  the 
impure  image  entered  into  the  hearts  of  men  without 
hindrance,  beneath  the  veil  of  words. 

It  was  on  account  of  the  great  dangers  which 
poets  expose  men  to  that  the  celebrated  philosopher 
Plato  banished  poetry  from  his  republic.  We,  far 
from  banishing  genius,  respect  it  like  a  sacred  thing. 
We  hold  it  to  be  not  an  ordinary  fault,  but  a  horrible 
sacrilege,  the  deplorable  degradation  of  Godless 
poets ;  those  who,  possessed  by  a  fierce  boldness, 
despise  the  gentle  and  benevolent  hand  of  our  holiest 
Divine  Beligion.  0  you  who,  still  youthful,  feel 
the  fire  of  poetry,  and  who  aspire  to  join  the 
perilous  profession,  take  warning;  if  you  wish  to 


NINTH   ARTICLE.  109 

avoid  the  numberless  dangers  and  difficulties  which 
are  strewn  in  your  path,  impress  on  your  own 
souls,  in  indelible  characters,  the  great  and  sublime 
thoughts  of  Catholicism.  Cast  with  firm  hand  on 
its  shores  the  holy  anchor  of  Faith,  in  order  to  be 
able  afterwards  to  voyage  without  fear  in  the 
oceans  of  the  world. 


TENTH  ABTICLE. 


TENTH  AETICLE. 

THE  FINE  ARTS.1 
Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Music. 

WHEN  our  most  Sacred  and  Divine  Keligion  was 
established  upon  earth,  all  things  were  tending 
towards  what  appeared  inevitable  ruin ;  but  this 
universal  Divine  Institution  came  to  raise  humbled 
nature  from  the  dust  and  out  of  the  degradation  into 
which  it  had  been  sunk. 

In  the  beginning  Eeligion  was  despised,  persecuted, 
humbled  and  even  repulsed,  and  was  fain  to  escape 
from  the  clutches  of  her  cruel  enemies. 

Her  beloved  children  had  to  fly  to  the  deserts  for 
concealment,  or  to  the  obscurity  of  the  Catacombs, 
while  others  were  loaded  with  chains  and  dragged 
to  gibbets  which  were  crimsoned  with  blood.  Hence 
she  could  not  fully  occupy  herself  with  anything  but 
with  the  sanctification  of  souls,  which  in  truth  was 
her  principal  mission.  But  no  sooner  did  she 
engraft  within  the  depths  of  souls  the  Divine  Idea, 
than  it  fructified  and  developed,  producing  divers 
splendours.  Not  satisfied  with  merely  bestowing 

1  The  Pine  Arts  comprise  Music,  Painting,  Sculpture  and  Archi- 
tecture, of  which  I  shall  treat  successively. 

8 


114  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

splendour  on  the  Sciences  and  the  Arts,  she  com- 
municated to  them  something  of  her  Divinity.  In 
regard  to  the  Art  of  Music,  which  we  purpose  treat- 
ing upon  in  this  article,  far  less  than  any  of  the 
other  Arts  could  it  at  first  develop  and  unfold. 

During  the  terrible  persecutions  which  the  Church 
endured,  what  chants  could  possibly  be  used  by  her 
but  that  interior  melody,  those  smothered  sighs 
which  the  soul  exhales  when  elevating  itself  towards 
heaven  ?  But  when  Christianity  came  forth  out  of 
the  obscurity  of  the  Catacombs,  driving  Paganism 
out  of  the  Temples  and  breaking  its  profane  Idols, 
and  even  from  within  the  palaces  of  the  Csesars, 
who  were  fast  becoming  converted  to  Catholicism, 
she  raised  her  voice  to  entone  hymns  of  triumph  and 
gratefulness. 

Then  when  the  Church  commenced  to  widen  her 
sphere,  and  when  she  unfolded  the  powerful  con- 
stitution which  had  been  given  her  by  her  Divine 
Founder,  she  fully  comprehended  the  importance  of 
music,  and  the  need  of  a  method  which  should  be 
in  unison  with  the  Holy  Beliefs  she  was  teaching 
the  nations.  This  grand  work  was  commenced  by 
St.  Ambrose,  continued  by  St.  Gregory,  and  brought 
to  perfection  by  Guido  d'Arezzo.  This,  in  brief,  is 
the  origin  of  Plain  Chant  from  which  modern  music 
has  sprung,  and  which  is  itself,  in  its  turn,  indebted 
to  our  Holy  Religion  for  its  most  notable  inspirations. 
But  as  Plain  Chant  has  been  specially  adopted  by 
the  Catholic  Church  throughout  the  world,  we  shall 
treat  principally  about  this  beautiful  style. 


TENTH   ARTICLE — THE   FINE   ARTS.  115 

The  grave,  slow  measure  of  Plain  Chant  perfectly 
harmonises  with  the  elevated,  austere  doctrines  of  the 
Catholic  religion,  as  well  as  the  imposing  majesty  of 
its  cultus.  For  all  its  religious  acts  our  Holy  Church 
has  its  individual  chants,  in  which  is  found  a  con- 
tinuous unanimity  which  ought  not  to  be  a  subject 
of  surprise  to  any  one.  It  is  always  the  soul  that 
sighs  in  this  vale  of  tears,  "  in  hac  lacrymarum  valle," 
and  which  anxiously  yearns  for  the  eternal  joys  of 
the  blessed  life. 

We  shall  proceed  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
chants  of  the  Church,  following  the  liturgical  year. 
On  commencing  the  liturgical  year,  little  does  the 
Church  chant,  because  it  represents  the  holy  fervour 
and  the  expectation  of  the  Messias ;  and  let  no  one 
doubt  it,  this  expectation  is  a  silent  one.  After  this 
we  hear  music  of  a  melodious  langour;  these  are 
the  sighs  of  the  soul,  and  the  cries  of  desire. 

These  cries  and  sighs  have  been  rising  from  the 
earth  for  more  than  four  thousand  years,  and  they 
have  ascended  even  to  touching  the  vaulted  heavens. 
The  Seraphim  repeat  them  in  their  celestial  concerts 
in  presence  of  the  Almighty,  and  they  return  to 
earth  loaded  with  the  precious  and  magnificent 
treasures  of  grace.  The  greatest  and  most  excellent 
gift  which  the  world  has  received  from  heaven  is, 
undoubtedly,  the  living  Son  of  God,  the  "desired  of 
all  the  peoples,"  the  true  Messias.  He  has  appeared 
among  us,  and  the  Church  manifests  her  joy  in  its 
Divine  songs.  Let  us  keep  it  well  in  mind  :  this  joy 
is  calm,  slow,  moderate ;  it  seems  as  though  it  lingered 


116       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

in  its  transports  of  holy  joy  and  extraordinary  en- 
thusiasm. A  God  is  born,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  a 
Man-God,  loaded  with  our  miseries  and  our  infir- 
mities. Some  rays  of  the  sun,  which  has  filled  the 
nations  with  refulgent  light,  have  been  manifested 
to  the  earth,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Christian  has 
partaken  of  its  untold  and  holy  rejoicing,  like  to 
material  nature  which  wakens  into  life  when  the 
beautiful  light  of  day  sheds  its  rays  over  our  fair  earth. 

Towards  the  end  of  His  holy  mission  the  Man- 
God  enters  into  His  sad  and  dolorous  career,  and  the 
Church  also  mourns  and  suffers  with  Him.  This 
holy  Mother  manifests  in  her  solemn  chants  the 
ineffable  sorrows,  the  mysterious  anguish  of  the  most 
patient  Jesus.  Above  all,  we  find  some  passages  of 
a  most  pathetic  nature.  Who  can  listen,  unmoved, 
to  the  sublime  chanting  of  the  Passion  of  Jesus? 
The  narrative  of  the  historian — the  cries  of  the  ex- 
cited populace — the  replies  of  the  calumniated  Just 
One,  at  once  so  tranquil  and  so  sublime — form  a 
truly  Divine  Drama.  Who  is  there  that  can  listen 
without  taking  part  in  the  vivid  and  vehement  sorrows 
of  the  most  holy  Virgin  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  on 
hearing  that  chant,  so  impressive,  of  the  "  Stabat 
Mater  dolorosa  "  ?  Blessed  !  a  thousand  times  blessed 
may  our  Divine  Eeligion  be  for  having  imprinted  on 
her  magnificent  chants  that  feeling  which  none  other 
can  even  imitate. 

The  Church,  always  compassionate  towards  the 
sorrows  of  her  children,  has  comprehended,  in  an 
extreme  degree,  what  passed  in  the  soul  of  the  Mater 


TENTH   ARTICLE — THE   FINE  ARTS.  117 

dolorosa.  Who  can  listen  to  the  Lamentations  of 
the  Prophet  Jeremias  without  feeling  an  indescrib- 
able sadness  piercing  into  the  very  depths  of  his 
soul?  When  those  strong  cries  of  grief  resound 
within  the  vast  precincts  of  a  great  Basilica  well- 
nigh  deserted,  we  feel  as  though  we  were  standing 
in  the  midst  of  that  Jerusalem  once  so  populous, 
"plena  populo,"  and  now  so  desolate.  After  these 
cries  of  lamentation  the  Church  keeps  a  profound 
silence,  as  though  exhausted  by  the  great  and  re- 
peated efforts  of  deepest  pain.  We  no  longer  hear 
even  the  sound  of  the  bell;  it  is  the  silence  of  death. 
All  things  are  hushed  around  the  sepulchre  wherein 
was  laid  our  Divine  Redeemer.  And  while  the  faith- 
ful, gathered  together  in  the  gloom  and  silence  of 
the  Temple,  are  engaged  in  prayer,  and  shedding 
abundant  tears  over  Jesus  in  repose,  lo !  a  great 
prodigy  is  worked — "  The  Lord  has  risen — 'non  est  hie' 
— do  not  seek  Him  in  the  Sepulchre  ".  At  this  instant 
everything  is  changed  to  joy  and  gladness  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church  throughout  the  whole 
Universe,  and  the  "Alleluia,"  which  we  shall  repeat, 
for  all  eternity,  in  Heaven  after  the  universal  resur- 
rection, has  already  commenced  to  be  heard  upon 
earth,  with  the  resurrection  of  the  Crucified.  Carried 
in  spirit  with  the  Apostles  unto  the  mountain  from 
whence  Jesus  ascended  to  His  high  and  excellent 
throne  of  glory,  the  Church  manifests  in  her  songs 
an  extraordinary  joy  on  beholding  those  beautiful 
Heavens  opened  which  are  to  be,  at  some  future  day, 
her  eternal  and  happy  dwelling-place. 


118       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

Who  does  not  admire  those  sublime  and  mysterious 
songs  of  the  Catholic  Church  when  celebrating  the 
Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  Apostles  ? 

What  deep  recollection  and  reverence  do  we  not 
observe  in  the  house  of  the  King  of  Heaven  and  of 
earth  !  On  that  lovely  day  we  imagine  ourselves  to 
be  in  the  Coenaculum,  because  we  instantly  picture 
to  ourselves  those  heroic  men,  filled  with  a  Divine 
Fire,  who  went  forth  with  admirable  courage  and  in- 
trepidity to  effect  the  difficult  task  of  converting  the 
nations,  submerged  as  they  were  in  the  most  com- 
plete barbarism. 

What  joy  do  we  not  experience  when  our  Holy 
Church  celebrates  the  glory  of  those  who  are  in  the 
highest  joy,  in  the  infinite  bosom  of  God!  What 
songs  of  triumph  and  of  rejoicing  do  we  intone  on 
that  day !  How  gladly  does  it  not  please  our  holy 
Mother,  the  Church,  to  open  her  maternal  arms  on 
beholding  such  a  multitude,  which  no  man  can 
number,  of  the  faithful  in  the  Heavens !  Yet  as  all 
souls  do  not  immediately  enter  the  celestial  country, 
but  many  have  to  go  first  to  the  place  of  expiation 
called  Purgatory,  the  Church  makes  an  especial 
commemoration  for  them  on  the  day  following  the 
Feast  of  All  Saints.  What  touching  supplications, 
what  chants  of  prayer  and  intercession  does  not  our 
Divine  Religion  send  up  to  the  Throne  of  Divine 
Mercy  for  these  blessed  souls  on  that  day ! 

It  is  indubitable  that  in  Religion,  as  in  Nature, 
our  Lord  and  God  has  engraved  on  the  heart  of  the 
Mother  those  affectionate  feelings  towards  such  of 


TENTH   ARTICLE — THE   FINE   ARTS.  119 

her  children  as  most  require  her  loving  care.  During 
the  Divine  Office  we  imagine  we  hear  the  deep 
sighs  of  all  those  souls  who,  from  the  depths  of  the 
abyss,  are  imploring  the  Infinite  Mercy  to  obtain 
their  speedy  entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

The  learned  are  not  alone  those  who  can  appreciate 
the  beauties  of  our  religious  music,  because  it  is 
undoubtedly  and  essentially  popular  music.  There 
are  few,  indeed,  who  do  not  find  pleasure  in  joining 
their  voices  with  those  of  the  assembled  congregation, 
when,  beneath  the  vaulted  roofs  of  the  Temples,  are 
intoned  those  sublime  canticles  which  the  inspired 
David  joyfully  addressed  to  God.  A  large  number 
of  persons  are  daily  converted  to  Catholicism  through 
the  great  attractions  of  her  songs ;  and  even  in  the 
conversion  of  savages  religious  songs  exercise  no 
less  influence  than  the  constant  preaching  of  our 
virtuous  missionaries.  And  among  our  own  selves, 
is  not  sometimes  the  most  moving  and  persuasive 
eloquence  the  eloquence  of  our  songs?  The  heart 
which  sighs  before  the  image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
or  before  a  statue  of  the  Divine  Child,  experiences 
an  emotion  which  in  vain  it  had  sought  for  in  the 
sweetest  harmonies  of  secular  or  profane  music. 

If,  as  we  have  proved,  our  Divine  Eeligion  exercises 
a  powerful  influence  on  vocal  music,  its  influence  is 
no  less  great  over  what  is  called  instrumental  music. 
In  truth  the  Catholic  Eeligion  is  the  only  one  that 
suggests  to  the  intelligence  of  man  its  grandest  and 
most  powerful  inspirations,  and  to  his  heart  the  most 
noble  sentiments,  which,  while  they  elevate  him, 


120  THE   INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

sustain  him  in  those  loftier  regions  wherein  are 
formed  the  greatest  of  true  Artists.  Man,  fragile 
and  limited,  can  do  no  good  if  left  to  his  own 
powers ;  hence,  when  finishing  those  instruments 
of  music,  so  highly  tuned  and  so  harmonious,  he 
ought  to  humble  himself,  and  pitting  his  pride 
against  his  littleness,  exclaim  :  "  Lord  !  to  Thee 
I  owe  everything.  I  give  Thee  thanks,  Supreme 
Creator,  for  so  many  and  such  benefits.  What 
could  I  have  effected,  Merciful  God !  unless  Thy 
Divine  Light  had  illumined  my  weak  intelligence?" 
In  this  way  do  the  humble  speak,  and  on  account  of 
their  humility  God  renders  their  intelligence  like 
to  shining  lights,  whilst  the  proud  fall  into  the 
fathomless  abyss  into  which  their  own  fierce  pride 
has  cast  them  ! 

Another  beautiful  thing  in  our  Temples  is  the  bell. 
We  can  well  compare  it  to  the  human  voice;  because, 
in  the  same  way  as  the  voice  resides  in  the  superior 
part  of  the  human  frame,  so  also  is  the  bell  found 
in  the  superior  part  of  the  Catholic  Temple,  in  order 
to  teach  her  numerous  progeny  to  lift  up  their  hearts 
to  the  King  of  Heaven  and  of  Earth  by  means  of 
prayer.  We  may  also  compare  the  bell  to  a  fond 
mother,  who  rejoices  or  becomes  saddened  with  her 
children ;  at  times  she  commands,  at  others  she 
counsels  them.  The  bell  becomes  sad  or  rejoices 
with  men ;  it  seems  to  command,  as  when,  on  festival 
days  of  obligation,  it  lifts  up  its  voice,  summoning 
all  the  faithful  to  come  and  be  present  during  the 
ineffable  sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  It  counsels  us 


TENTH   ARTICLE — THE   FINE   ARTS.  121 

when,  at  the  dawn  of  day,  at  midday,  and  at  night- 
fall, it  invites  us,  with  its  beautiful  tones,  to  raise 
our  hearts  in  prayer  to  the  Queen  of  Angels  and  of 
men,  and  recite  the  Angelus.  Perhaps  there  is  no 
sound  which  so  intimately  touches  our  hearts  as 
that  of  the  bell.  How  often  do  we  not  hear  it  with 
joy  and  enthusiasm !  How  often  does  it  not  make 
us  shed  tears ! 

The  organ  is,  by  excellence,  above  all  instruments 
the  one  most  proper  for  singing  the  praises  of  our 
God  and  Lord.  It  admits  of  no  comparison  with 
any  other  for  power,  fulness  and  brilliancy.  It  is 
the  sonorous  voice  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  like 
the  echo  of  an  invisible  world  which  is  symbolically 
manifested.  Sometimes  its  tones  excite  us  to  con- 
templation, at  others  it  fills  us  with  a  holy  sadness, 
or,  inflaming  our  hearts  with  a  celestial  ardour,  raises 
us  to  the  beautiful  and  resplendent  regions  of  the 
Infinite  Being,  and  iii  the  midst  of  our  transports 
we  feel  as  though  we  were  among  the  choirs  of 
angels. 

It  would  be  too  wearisome  to  treat  in  these  pages 
of  each  instrument  in  particular,  and,  therefore,  as  it 
is  not  necessary  to  our  purpose  to  do  so,  we  shall 
omit  the  recital,  simply  saying  in  general  that,  what- 
ever their  origin  may  be,  our  Holy  Keligion  can 
adopt  them  for  her  service,  imparting  to  some  those 
sweet  and  touching  accents  which  fill  us  with  true 
enthusiasm,  and  to  others  those  strong  sounds,  full 
and  penetrative,  which  this  Divine  Teacher  knows 
how  to  communicate  to  the  beautiful  human  voice, 


122  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

the  principal  organ  of  musical  art.  Very  rarely  does 
the  Church  employ  instrumental  music  without  using 
vocal  music  also.  What  magnificent  effect  is  pro- 
duced by  this  union !  How  they  move  and  strengthen 
us,  and  elevate  us  to  the  Infinite  Being!  Who  can 
listen  unmoved  to  the  chanting  of  the  "  De  Profundis 
Clamavi  "  ?  Who  does  not  weep  with  Jeremias  when 
listening  to  his  Lamentations  ?  Who  doesnot  feel  elated 
on  hearing  the  grand  Symbol  of  the  Catholic  Faith  ? 
Who  does  not  sigh  in  supplication  when  reciting  the 
Litanies  ?  Who  is  not  filled  with  a  mystic  joy  when 
listening  to  the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis,"  and  with  great 
tenderness  in  the  "  Salve  Begina"  ?  Who  does  not 
bow  down  to  the  ground  and  shed  bitter  tears  on 
hearing  the  solemn  chant  of  the  "  Lacrymosa  Dies 
Ira,  "  ?  Most  justly  did  St.  Augustine  say  :  "How, 
deeply  and  greatly  moved,  did  I  weep  with  the  sweet  hymns 
and  canticles  of  Thy  Church  I  Then  voices  pierced  mine 
ears,  and  the  truth  distilled  into  my  heart,  and  desires 
filled  it  with  ardour  for  piety,  and  the  tears  poured  down 
my  cheeks,  and  I  was  happy."  l 

There  is  yet  another  magnificent  song  heard  in 
our  Temples,  which  we  cannot  mention  without 
the  heart  overflowing  with  joy  ;  it  is  the  "  Te  Deum 
Laudamus  ".  Who  can  doubt  of  the  excellence  of  this 
magnificent  hymn,  when,  with  unanimous  voice,  we 
lift  up  to  the  Most  High  the  expressions  of  our 
acknowledgment  and  grateful  feelings  ? 

"  It  was  enthusiasm  that  inspired  the  '  Te  Deum '. 

1  Confessions,  Book  9,  vi.,  Dr.  Pusey's  translation. 


TENTH   ARTICLE — THE   FINE   ARTS.  123 

When,  still  on  the  plains,  after  a  great  victory  has 
been  achieved  on  the  battlefields,  amidst  the  still 
exploding  shells,  and  the  smoke  and  blood  of  the 
contest,  to  the  warlike  sounds  of  clarion  and  trum- 
pets, an  army,  surrounded  by  the  fire  of  the  battle, 
bends  the  knee  and  entones  the  hymn  of  gratitude 
to  the  God  of  Battles ;  or  else  when,  in  the  midst  of 
lamps  and  burning  tapers  and  incense  clouds,  the 
prolonged  notes  of  the  organ  are  heard,  like  sighs 
mingling  with  the  joyous  pealing  of  the  bells  and 
the  low  vibration  of  the  bass,  this  hymn  rises  up, 
resounding  and  agitating  the  coloured  windows  of  a 
grand  Basilica,  reverberating  in  its  aisles  and  lofty 
cupolas — there  is  not  a  single  man  present  but  feels 
some  movement  of  that  delirious  joy  which  Pindaro 
divinised  in  the  woods  of  Olympus,  and  David  in 
the  Brook  of  Cedron."1 

Were  it  not  that  I  fear  to  be  too  diffuse,  I  would 
prove  still  further,  and  in  a  more  extended  manner, 
the  great  and  extraordinary  services  which  our  Divine 
Keligion  has  rendered  to  this  beautiful  Art ;  but  I 
will  simply  offer  a  few  observations,  because  to  treat 
this  subject  in  a  due  form  would  necessitate  several 
volumes.  Unbelievers  and  Sophists !  if  what  has 
been  advanced  be  not  sufficient  to  convince  you  of 
the  powerful  influence  of  Catholicism  upon  music, 
you  can  open  the  brilliant  pages  of  the  history  of 
music,  and  you  will  at  once  find  the  celebrated 
names  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  Kircher,  Artega  and 

1  Chateaubriand. 


124  THE   INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

Eximeno  ;  of  the  Monks  Guido  d'Arezzo,  Nasarre 
Martin,  Flecha,  and  Sola ;  of  the  Abbots  Ceroni  and 
Baini,  standing  in  the  first  ranks  as  illustrious  and 
enlightened  masters,  as  also  stand  St.  Ambrose,  St. 
Damasus,  St.  Isidore,  St.  Gregory  and  St.  Eugenius. 
From  whence  but  from  the  Catholic  Church  did 
the  great  Spanish  artists  Morales  and  De  Victoria 
to  Eipa,  Doyagiie  and  Ledesma  spring?  Who  was 
the  master  of  Meyerbeer  but  the  Abbot  Vogler? 
Who  of  the  great  Kossini  but  Father  Mattei  ? 
Where  else  but  in  the  schools  of  music  of  our 
Holy  Keligion  did  the  great  composers  derive  their 
instruction,  such  as  Gluck,  Durante,  Palestrina,  the 
Canon  John  de  Muris,  the  Priest  and  Salamantine 
Professor  Salinas,  as  well  as  so  many  others  whose 
magnificent  works  it  would  be  an  endless  task  to 
follow,  but  which,  nevertheless,  have  astonished  the 
world  ?  Do  not  wonder  then  if,  on  terminating  this 
article,  we  should  proclaim  that  the  whole  Art  of 
Music  is  due  to  the  Catholic  Eeligion,  as  being 
the  only  one  that  knows  how  to  imprint  and 
develop  the  Divine  Thought  on  our  limited  human 
intelligences.1 

1 1  will  subjoin  the  names  of  the  different  schools  of  music  which, 
under  the  shelter  of  the  Catholic  Church,  were  maintained  in  Italy 
during  the  eighteenth  century  :  "  L'Ospedaletto,"  "  Santo  Onofrio," 
"Santa  Maria,"  "Dei  Poveri  de  Jesu,"  "  Cristo"  "Delia  Field" 
and  "  De  Mendicanti".  To  the  Catholic  Church  is  due  also  the 
origin  of  the  style  "  lirico-dramatico  ".  The  first  Opera  which  was 
represented  in  Rome  in  the  year  1440  was  called  "  The  Conversion 
of  St.  Paul,"  and  this  was  followed  by  others,  taking  their  subjects 
from  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 


ELEVENTH  AETICLE. 


ELEVENTH  ARTICLE. 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Painting. 

No  one  who  is  fairly  versed  in  history,  and  who  pos- 
sesses a  clear  judgment,  can  deny  that  the  genius  of 
painting,  like  the  genius  of  each  of  the  other  Arts, 
finds  the  most  efficacious  principles  of  its  develop- 
ment in  our  Divine  Religion.  She  supplies  to  the 
artist  the  two  elements  essential  to  his  work — God 
and  the  Creation.  The  ancient  Pagans  rejected 
Creation  and  necessarily  destroyed  Art ;  because,  in 
the  same  way  as  Creation  cannot  exist  without  God, 
so  also  painting  cannot  exist  without  the  Creation. 
If  the  whole  Creation,  with  its  immense  extent,  is 
no  more  than  a  perpetual  dream,  or  a  lengthened 
illusion  of  God,  what  superiority  did  these  senseless 
men  wish  to  impart  to  their  work  ?  Where  seek  for 
models  to  reproduce  them  ?  We  no  longer  cease  to 
wonder  at  all  those  monstrous  forms  of  uncultured 
nations ;  but  if,  as  we  are  already  threatened,  these 
same  doctrines  were  to  rule  society — if  from  litera- 
ture, wherein  they  have  begun  to  be  introduced,  they 
were  to  pass  on  into  the  domain  of  art,  we 
should  have  new  dreamers  who,  beholding  on  all 
sides  phantoms,  would  take  pleasure  in  representing 


128  THE   INFLUENCE  OF   CATHOLICISM. 

the  bizarre  productions  of  their  unhealthy  imagina- 
tions instead  of  created  objects. 

Some  dissenting  sects  have  denied  also  to  Catho- 
licism its  powerful  influence  over  this  beautiful  art 
as  regards  the  reproduction  of  sensible  things.  Do 
they  perchance  ignore  that  our  Holy  Eeligion  is 
ever  to  man  the  efficacious  principle  of  highest  in- 
spiration ?  Do  they  not  know  that  were  Catholicity 
destroyed,  art,  as  a  consequence,  would  perish,  or 
at  least  be  restricted  in  its  most  beautiful  develop- 
ment? Every  day  do  we  see  fanatical  innovators 
who,  in  their  darkened  intelligences,  imagine  that  it 
is  pleasing  to  God  to  burn  all  the  most  beautiful 
master-works  in  painting.  This  is  not  because  they 
deny  the  Creation,  but  because  it  appears  to  them 
to  be  very  dangerous  to  faith,  from  the  religious 
standpoint,  this  material  reproduction  of  Creatures. 
"If  you  represent  God  and  the  Celestial  Spirits," 
they  say,  "under  a  sensible  form;  if  you  place  in 
Temples  the  image  of  Jesus,  of  the  Virgin  and  of 
the  Saints,  you  will  infallibly  open  the  door  to 
the  materialism  and  idolatry  which  invaded  us  on 
all  sides  in  former  times." 

Blinded  men !  who  cannot  see  that  this  representa- 
tion of  material  objects  is  natural  to  our  intelligence, 
and  who  do  not  understand  that,  by  saying  this,  they 
accuse  God  Himself  of  materialism  and  idolatry. 
He  reproduces  Himself,  up  to  a  'certain  point,  in 
the  Creation  ;  and  numberless  nations,  forgetting 
the  Supreme  Creator,  have  adored  Creatures.  Very 
well;  lift  up  your  hand,  extinguish  this  admirable 


ELEVENTH   ARTICLE.  129 

beacon,  a  lively  image  of  the  Eternal  Sun,  because 
men  have  adored  'it !  And  whereas  there  have  been 
men  who  have  prostrated  themselves  before  created 
objects,  let  them  therefore  ignore  the  whole  creation. 

It  is  only  to  wandering  minds  that  such  a  senseless 
idea  could  occur.  Others  there  are  who  have  fallen 
into  the  opposite  error;  for,  despising  the  spiritual 
element,  they  have  occupied  themselves  exclusively 
with  the  material  element.  Of  these  latter  were 
the  Greeks,  who  made  painting  to  spring  from  the 
most  sensual  of  all  the  passions. 

It  was  reserved  to  our  Divine  Eeligion  to  supply 
to  the  art  of  painting  the  two  elements,  spiritual 
and  material,  which  are  most  necessary,  nay,  indis- 
pensable. She  combines  them  together  in  a  most 
admirable  manner,  and  establishes  them  with  exact 
precision,  according  to  the  degree  which  the  nature 
of  each  demands. 

This  great  teacher  tells  us  :  There  exists,  ab  cBterno, 
a  Supreme  and  Infinite  Being,  Creator  of  all  contin- 
gent beings  which  tend  to  return  to  Himself.  There 
also  exists  veritably  a  material  substance,  calculated 
to  make  an  impression  on  the  senses,  and  through 
which  the  Divine  Thought  always  shines,  more  or 
less  clearly,  before  the  eyes  of  the  intelligence. 
Reproduce,  therefore,  by  means  of  art,  spirit  and 
matter ;  but  bear  in  mind  that  all  proceeds  from  the 
spirit,  that  in  the  spirit  is  alone  found  the  true  life, 
immutable ;  observe,  also,  that  the  material  element 
is  no  other  than  a  means  which  easily  elevates  us, 

and  with  the  greater  security,  up   to  the  Spiritual 

9 


130  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

Being,  the  only  Being  worthy  of  our  love.  In  your 
works,  therefore,  the  spirit  will  ever  stand  above 
the  sensible  phenomena;  or  rather  matter  will  be 
nothing  else  but  the  transparent  veil  of  the  spirit, 
in  order  that,  becoming  impressed  with  so  much 
beauty,  the  thought,  unfolding  its  wings,  should  fly 
upwards,  above  the  terrestrial  regions,  towards  the 
Perfect  Model,  to  Whom  we  ought  to  be  perfectly 
united. 

This  is  the  reason  why,  in  the  imitation  of  created 
objects,  Catholic  art  especially  cultivates  the  repro- 
duction of  the  human  figure,  because  man  alone  is 
endowed  with  true  intelligence  upon  earth.  Behold, 
this  is  the  reason  why,  in  a  certain  sense,  she  pays 
little  heed  to  the  rest  of  the  body,  and  employs 
greater  care  upon  the  head,  in  which  is  especially 
found  the  expression  of  the  intelligence. 

Not  only  does  our  Sacred  Religion  give  the  neces- 
sary elements  to  art,  but  she  also  presents  to  it 
highly  finished  models.  The  first  of  all  models,  the 
One  which  above  all  others  we  admire,  and  that  fills 
us  with  enthusiasm,  is  the  grand  model  of  the  Person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  Holy  Catholic  Faith  teaches 
us  "  that,  in  order  to  re-establish  human  nature, 
stained  by  sin,  the  only  Son  of  God,  equal  to  His 
Eternal  Father,  clothed  Himself  in  our  human  nature, 
and  united  it  to  His  Divine  Nature,  without  confound- 
ing the  one  with  the  other  ".  The  Word  made  Flesh 
loaded  Himself  with  all  our  miseries.  For  this 
reason  He  is  represented  to  us  lying  in  the  Manger 
beneath  the  veil  of  infancy ;  or  again,  he  is  represented 


ELEVENTH   ARTICLE.  131 

to  us  compassionating  our  griefs  and  sicknesses  ;  or 
we  see  Him  cruelly  persecuted  by  those  whom  He 
has  laden  with  benefits,  and,  lastly,  expiring  upon  a 
shameful  Cross,  covered  with  insults,  and  enduring 
untold  sufferings.  But  in  whichever  phase  of  His 
life  we  may  find  Him,  we  always  see  gleaming 
through  the  obscure  mantle  with  which  He  willed  to 
clothe  Himself,  some  rays  of  His  Sacred  Divinity. 
There  is  a  touching  grace  ever  in  his  look,  more  par- 
ticularly hovering  around  His  Divine  Lips,  grave  as 
truth,  an  attraction  which  transpierces  and  captivates 
the  most  rebellious  heart.  Such  was  the  God-Man 
before  His  Divine  Eedemption.  But  after  His  resur- 
rection the  veil  was  drawn  aside  ;  the  material  Form 
became  spiritualised,  and  the  resplendent  rays  of  a 
superior  Beauty  darted  out  from  His  Transfigured 
Body. 

After  the  Divine  Master  follow  His  Disciples, 
those  men  whom  He  sent  throughout  the  world  to 
continue  His  holy  mission.  Then  did  these  hitherto 
rough,  carnal-minded  men  begin,  little  by  little, 
to  become  spiritualised  in  the  high  school  of  their 
most  wise  Master,  and  when  their  union  with  Him 
was  consummated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  had 
also  joined  eternally  and  in  an  infinite  manner  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  they  also  appeared  as  though 
they  themselves  had  participated  in  the  Divine 
Nature. 

We  quickly  perceive  on  this  same  heavenly  path- 
way an  innumerable  multitude  of  martyrs,  of  all 
ages  and  conditions  of  life,  some  standing  with 


132  THE   INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

extraordinary  intrepidity  before  the  tribunals  of  their 
cruel  persecutors ;  others  carrying,  with  holy  love, 
heavy  chains,  and  enduring  their  great  sufferings 
with  unheard  of  resignation,  languishing  in  some 
obscure  prison  ;  others  ignominiously  thrown  into 
the  arena,  to  serve  as  prey  to  ferocious  wild  beasts, 
and  as  a  criminal  plaything  to  an  insolent  populace. 
Yet  in  all,  and  in  each,  we  perceive  that  wonderful 
union  of  humility  and  greatness  of  soul,  of  sweetness 
and  firmness,  of  all  those  noble  virtues  which  are 
learnt  in  the  great  school  of  the  Eedeemer  of  the 
human  race.  They  rise  to  heaven,  bearing  in  their 
hands  the  palm  of  victory.  Their  blood  is  converted 
into  a  brilliant  purple,  and  in  their  wounds  shines 
a  celestial  glory.  And  how  speak  of  the  Holy 
Pontiffs  and  blessed  Doctors  of  the  Church,  who  fill 
such  an  important  place  in  the  spiritual  edifice  which 
Jesus  Christ  has  founded,  and  of  which  He  is  the 
Corner  Stone  !  Their  looks  are  ever  directed  towards 
heaven,  from  whence  they  have  received  their  inspira- 
tion ;  there  flows  from  the  heart  of  each  a  fountain 
of  peace,  that,  like  to  an  abundant  river,  renders 
souls  fruitful  in  good  works,  and  makes  virtue  to 
germinate.  Unbelievers  and  Eationalists  !  you  who 
maintain  that  you  are  so  intelligent,  and  who  can 
so  well  describe  your  Goddess  Beason,  compare  these 
magnificent  models  with  those  that  have  been 
bequeathed  to  us  by  Paganism,  and  afterwards  tell  us 
which  side  claims  superiority. 

Above  all  secondary  types  derived  from  the  incom- 
parable model  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  which 


ELEVENTH   ARTICLE.  133 

also  belong  to  our  Holy  Keligion,  is  found  that  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  In  ancient  times  woman  was 
nothing  else  but  a  miserable  slave.  By  taking  flesh 
in  the  womb  of  a  virgin,  the  Eternal  Word  raised 
the  dignity  of  woman.  Who  is  not  charmed  on 
beholding  the  Daughter  of  Nazareth  by  the  side  of 
her  Divine  Son  ?  She  is  truly  the  woman  according 
to  the  Spirit.  Ideal  beauty  has  purified  to  such  a 
degree  in  her  the  material  envelope,  that  never  has 
it  been  marred  by  a  sensual  look.  A  miraculous 
flower,  rising  above  the  earth,  surrounded  by  a 
mysterious  light  which  conceals  her  to  the  eyes 
of  the  carnal  minded,  she  manifests  herself  to  the 
interior  gaze  of  the  soul.  All  things  are  at  once 
acknowledged  in  her  :  the  benevolent  affability  of 
the  Mother  of  men,  and  the  august  dignity  of  the 
Mother  of  God. 

Let  me  again  ask  of  unbelievers  and  of  sophists, 
"  Where  will  you  meet  with  any  model  to  equal  this  ? 
Is  it  in  Paganism  ?  Pagan  models  do  not  produce 
in  our  souls  the  smallest  impression." 

Bear  in  mind  that  the  great  Patriarch  whom 
we  see  upon  the  mountain  lifting  up  his  hand  to 
sacrifice  his  beloved  Son  is  the  Father  of  all  believers, 
and  the  model  of  a  perfect  obedience. 

That  Man-God  Whom  we  behold  receiving  in  a 
manger  the  adoration  of  the  Shepherds  or  of  the 
Magi,  or  conversing  with  His  disciples  familiarly  like 
a  friend  with  a  friend,  and  later  on  expiring  painfully 
upon  a  cross,  is  such  with  the  sole  object  in  view  of 
saving  us,  and  redeeming  the  whole  world,  since  it 


134      THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

was  for  this  that  He  came  and  suffered,  and  for  this 
that  He  died  in  a  most  opprobrious  manner  on  a 
cross. 

That  Mother  whom  we  see  with  heart  trans- 
pierced by  the  sword  of  sharpest  pain,  standing  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross  upon  which  her  Divine  Son  is 
expiring,  is  the  most  perfect  model  of  all  Christian 
mothers.  Those  Apostles,  those  martyrs,  virgins 
and  confessors  are  our  teachers,  our  comforters,  our 
models,  while  that  Heaven  opened  above  their  heads 
is  calling  upon  us  all  to  follow  them.  0  Sacred 
and  Divine  Beligion !  may  you  be  a  thousand  times 
blessed  and  praised,  because  in  you  has  been  per- 
fectly represented  the  Image  of  Christ  crucified,  the 
Last  Judgment,  more  awe-inspiring  than  the  judg- 
ments of  the  earth,  a  Kesurrection  which  manifests 
to  us  the  proof  of  our  own  Spiritual  resurrection  and 
the  pledge  of  our  heavenly  inheritance. 

What  a  vast  field  for  the  genius  of  painting  is 
presented  to  us  by  our  Temples,  the  hallowed  shrines 
of  our  holy  Catholic  faith !  What  lovely  pictures 
do  we  see  suspended  upon  their  magnificent  walls ! 
What  beautiful  subjects  may  not  the  artist  find  in 
those  noble  Cathedrals  and  within  the  depths  of 
those  Sanctuaries  wherein  dwells  the  Holy  of 
holies !  What  peace,  what  silence,  at  once  so  im- 
posing and  so  pleasing,  do  we  not  observe  in  the 
mysterious  spot  in  which  man,  elevating  himself 
towards  heaven,  finds  the  great  King  of  kings,  Who 
humbled  Himself  to  the  very  earth  !  In  that  House 
of  God  and  of  man  our  Divine  Keligion  explains  her 


ELEVENTH  ARTICLE.  135 

holy  Doctrines,  her  saintly  Liturgy  to  her  beloved 
children,  to  rich  and  to  poor  alike. 

Let  us  listen  to  the  words  of  an  eminent  writer, 
expressed  with  all  that  authority  and  power  which 
his  virtue  and  his  science  impart  to  them.1 

"  When  we  hear  it  asserted  that  Christianity  is  an 
enemy  to  the  arts  one  feels  greatly  astonished,  be- 
cause in  an  instant  the  forms  are  conjured  up  in  the 
memory  of  such  men  as  Michael  Angelo,  Eaffaelle, 
Cerrachio,  Dominico,  Lesueur,  Poussin,  Lawton,  and 
many  other  artists  whose  names  alone  would  suffice 
to  fill  volumes." 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  the 
Eoman  Empire,  invaded  by  the  barbarians  and  torn 
asunder  by  heresy,  became  ruined  on  all  sides.  The 
arts  in  those  days  found  no  other  asylums  but  such 
as  the  Christians  and  the  orthodox  Europeans  granted 
to  them.  Theodosius  exempted  painters,  in  virtue 
of  a  special  law,  from  paying  tributes  and  taxes. 
The  Fathers  of  the  Church  are  loud  in  their 
eulogiums  on  painting.  St.  Gregory  expresses  him- 
self on  this  subject  in  a  manner  worthy  of  remark : 
"  Vidi  scepius  inscriptionis  imaginem,  et  sine  lacrymis 
transire  non  potui,  cum,  tarn  efficaciter,  ob  oculos  poneret 
historiam;"  the  Saint  refers  to  a  picture  which  re- 
presented the  sacrifice  of  Abraham.  St.  Basil  goes 
further,  for  he  says  that  painters  "effect  as  much  with 
their  pictures  as  orators  do  by  their  eloquence  ".  A  monk, 
called  Methodius,  in  the  eighteenth  century  painted 

1  Chateaubriand. 


136  THE   INFLUENCE   OF  CATHOLICISM. 

a  picture  of  the  Last  Judgment,  which  was  the  cause 
of  converting  to  the  faith  Bogoris,  the  King  of  the 
Bulgarians.  The  Priests  had  collected  together  in 
the  College  of  the  Ortodoxia  in  Constantinople  the 
most  beautiful  library  in  the  world  and  masterpieces 
of  the  Arts,  among  the  latter  being  the  Venus  of 
Praxiteles,  facts  which  at  least  prove  that  the  foun- 
ders of  Catholic  worship  were  not  barbarians,  destitute 
of  taste,  and  given  up  to  absurd  superstitions. 

This  college  was  demolished  by  the  Iconoclast 
Emperor,  and  its  professors  were  burnt  alive ;  and  it 
was  only  at  the  grave  risk  of  their  lives  that  the 
Christians  succeeded  in  saving  the  skin  of  the  Dragon, 
measuring  120  feet,  upon  which  had  been  written  in 
letters  of  gold  the  works  of  Homer.  The  paintings 
in  the  churches  became  the  prey  of  the  flames. 
Some  senseless,  furious  heretics,  like  the  Puritans 
of  Cromwell,  destroyed  by  sword-thrusts  the  Mosaics 
of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Constantinople  and  of 
the  Palace  of  Blaquernas.  Persecution  reached  such 
a  height  that  it  extended  to  the  artists  themselves, 
and  they  were  prohibited,  under  pain  of  death,  from 
continuing  their  pious  labours. 

The  monk  Lazaro  had  the  courage  to  be  a  martyr 
to  his  art.  In  vain  did  Theophilus  order  that  his 
hands  be  burnt,  so  that  he  should  be  prevented  from 
handling  the  pencil.  Concealed  in  the  subterranean 
parts  of  the  Church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  he 
painted  with  mutilated  fingers  the  great  Saint, 
whose  suppliant  he  was,  and  truly  worthy  was  he 
of  becoming  the  "  Patron  of  Painters,"  and  of  being 


ELEVENTH   ARTICLE.  137 

acknowledged  as  such  by  that  sublime  family  which 
the  ardent  breath  of  genius  raises  above  the  common 
crowd. 

In  the  Empire  of  the  Goths  and  of  the  Lombards 
Christianity  continued  to  stretch  out  to  talent  her 
protecting  hand.  These  efforts  are  more  especially 
perceptible  in  the  churches  constructed  by  Theodori- 
cus,  Luitprand  and  Didier.  The  same  spirit  of 
Eeligion  inspired  Charlemagne,  since  the  Church  of 
the  Apostles  raised  by  order  of  this  great  Prince  in 
Florence  is  held  even  at  the  present  day  as  a  monu- 
ment of  sufficient  merit. 

Lastly,  towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century 
the  Christian  Eeligion,  after  having  wrestled  with 
thousands  of  obstacles,  returned  in  triumph  to  bring 
back  to  the  world  the  Choir  of  the  Muses.  All  things 
worked  together  for  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
the  churches,  sheltered  as  they  were  by  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  and  of  pious  Princes. 
Bouchet,  a  Greek  by  origin,  was  the  first  architect ; 
Nicholas  the  first  sculptor,  and  Cimabue  the  first 
painter,  who  exhumed  out  of  the  ruins  of  Greece  and 
Borne  rare  and  interesting  antiquities.  Since  that 
time  the  arts  progressed  in  the  hands  of  various 
masters  until  the  pontificate  of  Pope  Leo  X.,  in 
whose  reign  shone,  like  two  bright  constellations, 
Raffaelle  and  Michael  Angelo. 

Why  should  we  hesitate  to  say  it  ?  During  this 
epoch  of  such  sad  memories  a  disastrous  revolution 
made  the  Fine  Arts  fall  away  to  a  very  consider- 
able degree.  Painting  descended  from  the  celestial 


138  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

regions  to  which  it  had  been  elevated  by  our  Holy 
Faith,  and  deteriorated  into  a  gross  materialism. 
Various  schools  were  founded  in  Germany,  Flanders, 
France,  Italy  and  Spain.  On  mentioning  the  three 
last  we  cannot  resist  recording  with  pride  the 
names  of  Murillo,  Velasquez,  Zurbaran,  Claude 
Lorrain  and  many  others,  who,  under  the  protection 
of  Catholicism,  have  superseded  other  painters,  and 
shone  with  eclat  and  greatness. 

Unbelievers  and  nationalists !  you  ought,  like 
we  do,  to  acknowledge  that  wherever  the  Catholic 
Keligion  is  founded  and  propagated  the  Fine  Arts 
always  succeed  and  flourish. 

Although  it  may  be  hard  for  you  to  hear  this, 
historic  truth  is  always  above  vain  reason.  Ac- 
knowledge, then,  your  own  littleness  and  misery. 

Artists  !  fly  from  those  false  prophets  who  are 
constantly  announcing  that  our  dissolution  is  near 
at  hand.  Consult  them,  if  it  so  pleases  you;  you 
will  not  find  in  their  perverse  doctrines  anything 
but  an  universal  scepticism.  Doubt  can  never 
strengthen  the  pencil  in  your  hand,  nor  will  it  ever 
produce  noteworthy  works. 


TWELFTH  AKTICLE. 


TWELFTH  AETICLE. 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Sculpture. 

IT  is  not  my  aim  to  develop  this  subject  fundamen- 
tally, because  all  that  we  have  advanced  in  respect 
to  painting  may  very  well  be  applied,  in  a  general 
sense,  to  sculpture.  We  shall,  therefore,  not  repeat, 
but  will  add  some  considerations,  and  a  few  fresh 
proofs,  in  order  to  confirm  the  great  influence  which 
Catholicism  exerts  on  this  beautiful  art. 

It  is  an  evident  fact  (and  one  which  none  may 
doubt)  that  the  first  and  most  beautiful  form  which 
the  universe  ever  beheld  was  that  creation  which 
came  so  perfect  from  the  Hands  of  the  Supreme 
Artificer  when,  in  Paradise,  He  said :  "  Let  us  make 
man  to  our  image  and  likeness  "-1 

It  is  easy  to  understand  the  great  influence  which 
our  Holy  Eeligion  exercises  over  the  beautiful  art  of 
sculpture.  It  is  indubitable  that  the  interior  of  a 
Temple  which  is  appropriated  to  the  ceremonies  of 
Religion  is  the  most  favourable  medium  for  the 
development  and  display  of  sculpture.  In  the 
spaces  left  vacant  by  the  pictures,  on  the  tops  of 
the  columns,  around  the  large  window,  upon  the 

1  Gen.  i. 


142      THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

numerous  cross-bars,  so  well  calculated  and  disposed 
for  sustaining  them,  and  which  cause  such  a  variety 
in  their  beautiful  shapes,  within  the  highest  parts 
of  the  vaulted  arches,  what  magnificent  statues  and 
sculptures  of  all  descriptions  do  we  not  meet  with  ! 
On  one  spot,  perchance,  we  find  garlands  of  flowers 
that  Faith  wove  together  to  offer  to  the  Author  of 
Nature.  By  their  side  we  behold  vanishing  forms, 
the  emblems  of  our  virtues,  and  which,  as  though 
they  had  been  rays  from  the  Sun  of  Justice,  wherein 
they  had  their  birth,  soar  up  to  heaven,  sustained 
by  the  hands  of  Angels.  There  are  also  seen  horrible 
forms ;  these  latter  are  representations  of  our  vices. 
As  the  immediate  and  inevitable  consequence  of 
these  is  to  humble  the  intellectual  creature,  by 
placing  him  on  a  level  with  the  inferior  beings, 
Christian  art  has  had  the  happy  thought  of  repre- 
senting them  to  us  under  the  form  of  realistic  or 
fantastic  animals.  They  stand  there  in  order  to 
inspire  men  with  horror,  who  debase  their  high 
dignity  by  delivering  themselves  up  to  the  follies  of 
the  world.  At  the  head  of  this  troop  of  degraded 
beings  is  found  Satan,  the  type  of  evil  and  of  suffer- 
ing. We  see  him  flung  on  the  ground,  creeping 
along  the  earth  like  a  vanquished  enemy,  and  fre- 
quently is  he  represented  under  most  loathsome 
forms.  All  these  symbols  of  horror  and  of  degrada- 
tion are  executed  to  perfection.  This  contrast,  so 
great  between  physical  beauty  and  moral  decadence, 
produces  astonishment,  and  suggests  motives  of  deep 
meditation. 


TWELFTH  ARTICLE.  143 

The  work  of  sculpture  by  degrees  becomes  more 
salient  from  the  walls,  where  it  had  commenced, 
and  becoming  more  developed,  attains  those  admir- 
able proportions  which  God  has  conferred  on  the 
human  form.  Beneath  this  form,  with  something 
celestial  to  enhance  it,  we  see  the  holy  Apostles  still 
announcing  to  us  in  the  Temple  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Close  to  the  Baptismal  Font  stands  the 
Angel  of  Mercy,  that  Blessed  Spirit  who  invisibly 
directs  and  opens  the  current  of  grace  to  flow  over 
the  souls  stained  by  original  sin.  By  the  side  of  the 
Tabernacle  is  seen  the  Angels  of  Recollection  and  of 
Prayer.  Behind  the  Altar  we  find  the  Queen  of 
Angels,  Mary  most  holy.  When  we  approach  to 
this  Divine  Mother  we  see  her  so  beautiful,  as  she 
opens  her  arms,  inviting  us,  with  her  ineffable  smile, 
to  place  ourselves  in  all  confidence  under  her  care 
and  protection. 

It  is  often  found  necessary  to  place  delicate  paint- 
ings in  the  interior  of  Temples,  but  this  is  not  neces- 
sarily the  case  with  sculpture,  for  it  can  defy  the 
inclemency  of  the  seasons. 

Let  us  leave  the  Temple  and  we  shall  still  find 
this  art  enhancing  the  vast  edifice,  working,  ani- 
mating, as  it  were,  and  extending  to  all  the  inert 
parts  of  that  building  movement,  life,  thought  itself. 
Here  we  see  the  Creation  ;  further  on  the  Patriarchs 
and  the  Prophets ;  in  another  spot  we  find  the  Birth 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  all  the  events  of  His  exemplary 
Life  and  Sacred  Passion.  The  imposing  spectacle 
of  the  Last  Judgment  also  presents  itself  to  our 


144  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

gaze,  and  incites  us  to  implore  the  Divine  Mercy  in 
this  hallowed  edifice  wherein  He  has  fixed  His  per- 
manent Abode.  All  things  are  admirably  blended 
together ;  all  things  are  arranged  with  order  and 
intelligence.  In  another  part  of  the  noble  Basilica 
is  found  represented  the  history  of  Man  and  the 
history  of  Eeligion,  engraved  by  art  upon  the  Temple 
of  the  Lord  to  attract  the  most  enthusiastic  hearts, 
and  inspire  in  them  greater  respect  and  veneration. 

There  is  also  a  sacred  spot  which  is  intimately 
united  with  the  Temple,  if  not  by  its  actual  and 
material  nearness,  at  least  by  a  moral  proximity ;  it 
is  the  last  resting-place  of  our  beloved  dead.  In 
every  place,  and  at  all  times,  man  has  always  be- 
lieved in  the  existence  of  a  new  life  after  death ;  in 
all  lands  and  in  every  age,  even  among  savage  tribes, 
it  has  been  the  custom  to  gather  together  and  pre- 
serve the  mortal  remains  of  the  dear  departed  ones 
with  all  solicitude. 

But  it  is  the  Holy  Catholic  Eeligion  which  en- 
graves in  the  deepest  manner  on  the  soul  the  belief 
in  immortality ;  it  is  she  who  by  her  beliefs,  her 
expiatory  ceremonies,  brings  to  the  mind  of  the 
living  the  remembrance  of  the  dead.  From  this 
proceeds,  especially  among  ourselves,  the  cultus  of 
the  sepulchres.  The  village  cemetery  perhaps  pro- 
duces in  the  heart  the  deepest  emotion.  In  this 
spot  Nature,  ever  young  and  fertile,  hastens,  like  a 
careful  mother,  to  cast  her  mantle  of  verdure  and 
flowers  over  the  objects  of  our  sorrow.  We  may 
observe  only  some  wooden  crosses,  and  in  their 


TWELFTH   ARTICLE.  145 

midst,  perchance,  rises  a  larger  cross,  which  marks 
the  grave  of  the  pastor  of  that  village,  who  seems 
to  be  watching  in  death,  as  he  did  in  life,  over 
the  flock  confided  to  his  care,  awaiting  the  general 
resurrection. 

In  the  burial  places  of  the  cities  there  is  not  that 
simplicity  of  Nature,  that  equality  of  death,  which 
makes  the  heart  feel  restful  when  weary  of  the 
fatigues  and  of  the  injustices  and  trials  of  life ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  what  admirable  works  have  been 
effected  by  sculptors.  The  works  of  sculpture  have 
something  of  death  and  of  life  in  them ;  it  is  Chris- 
tianity in  the  field  of  repose. 

Let  us  look  at  the  sepulchres  of  every  shape  and 
form  of  grandeur  clustering  around  the  Cross,  which 
still  spreads  its  Arms  and  shelters  them  with  its 
shadow  !  How  often  do  we  see  a  mother,  in  deepest 
grief,  placing  lovely  flowers  on  the  remains  of  a  loved 
daughter.  Close  to  her  is  a  boy  of  tender  years, 
who  yet  ignores  the  mysteries  of  death,  as  he  also 
ignores  those  of  life,  and  who  plays  with  the  very 
flowers  cast  upon  his  sister's  grave.  A  little  further 
on  we  meet  two  sisters  who  are  inconsolable  at  the 
death  of  a  brother  who  was  all  their  felicity.  With 
eyes  bent  towards  Christ  nailed  on  the  Cross,  they 
seem  to  be  saying  to  Him,  as  on  another  occasion 
the  sisters  of  Lazarus  did  say  to  Him :  "  Lord,  if 
you  had  favourably  listened  to  our  prayer,  our 
brother  would  not  have  died".  And  the  Divine 
Master,  always  merciful,  replies  to  them  in  the 
consoling,  expressive  words  of  the  Catholic  Faith : 

10 


146  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

"  Your  brother  is  not  dead :  he  sleeps  !  "  In  effect, 
Death  is  not  a  horrible,  dismal  Spectre,  such  as 
Paganism  has  conceived  it  to  be ;  it  is  a  Sleep, 
beautified  by  the  Divinity.  Peace  reigns  over  that 
transparent,  immovable  form.  That  body,  on  the 
verge  of  crumbling  to  dust,  seems  but  to  be  awaiting, 
with  impatience,  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  to  quit 
this  miserable  dust,  and  fly  to  the  great  Tribunal  of 
the  Sovereign  Judge  of  the  living  and  of  the  dead, 
from  whence  souls  that  are  pure  are  carried  to  enjoy 
eternal  bliss. 


THIRTEENTH  ARTICLE. 


THIRTEENTH  AETICLE. 

Influence  of  Catholicism  on  Architecture. 

THE  origin  of  the  beautiful  art  of  architecture  dates 
as  far  back  as  the  first  ages  of  the  world.  However, 
on  treating  of  this  art  we  shall,  for  the  sake  of 
brevity,  commence  with  the  architecture  of  the 
Romans. 

In  their  first  epochs  of  glory  the  Romans  did  not 
greatly  shine  in  the  culture  of  the  Fine  Arts.  During 
that  time,  which  we  may  call  primitive,  other  affairs 
occupied  their  minds. 

Their  principal  enterprise  was  the  founding  of  the 
Eternal  City,  and  the  subjecting  to  their  dominion 
all  the  nations  on  the  face  of  the  globe ;  thus  from 
so  remote  a  period  preparing  the  vast  comprehensive 
unity  of  the  Christian  family,  which  our  Sacred  and 
Divine  Religion  was  to  consummate,  and  to  which 
we  owe  so  much  greatness. 

The  roads  which  the  Romans  formed ;  the  aque- 
ducts, the  bridges  erected  for  the  service  of  their 
armies  and  to  facilitate  in  every  way  their  victorious 
march ;  the  lofty  columns,  the  triumphal  arches 
under  which  all  the  conquered  nations  marched  who 
were  unable  to  proceed  to  bend  their  knee  before  the 
capitol ;  their  theatres,  their  palaces  and  porticos ; 


150       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

the  sumptuous  villas  to  which  the  wealthy  Eomans 
betook  themselves  when  fatigued  with  the  triumphs 
and  conquests  effected,  in  order  to  rest  and  give 
themselves  up  to  idleness  and  pleasure ;  the  Basilicas, 
that  class  of  Temples  wherein  the  Koman  magis- 
trature,  those  "  Gods  of  the  Earth,"  interpreted  the 
law  and  distributed  justice — such  was  the  architecture 
that  chiefly  occupied  their  time.  Generally  speaking, 
there  was  not  much  delicacy  or  elegance  in  these 
erections,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  a  solidity 
which  was  above  all  doubt.  Participating,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  of  the  destinies  of  the  Eternal  City,  these 
monuments  appear  to  possess  an  imperishable  dura- 
bility. 

Uncertain  of  the  true  Faith,  the  Eomans,  in  place 
of  dedicating  themselves  to  religious  architecture, 
allowed  each  vanquished  city  its  Religion  and  its 
Temples.  They  nevertheless  erected  many  sacred 
edifices,  and  as  they  had  adopted  the  religion  and 
philosophical  conceptions  of  the  Greeks,  they  like- 
wise adopted  their  architecture,  but  in  this  they 
effected  some  important  modifications.  In  the  first 
place,  they  raised  it  to  noble  and  bold  proportions 
— so  great  was  their  ideal  of  the  Majesty  of  the 
Imperial  City.  This  modification  consisted  either 
in  altering  the  elegance,  the  exquisite  delicacy,  the 
harmony  of  the  Greek  Temple,  or  else  in  imparting  to 
it  a  grandeur  and  dignity  well  worthy  of  its  destiny. 

With  the  object  of  communicating  to  their  religious 
edifices  something  of  the  stability  which  they  con- 
ceived they  had  on  earth,  they  introduced  the  dome 


THIRTEENTH   ARTICLE.  151 

so  necessary  in  their  vast  constructions.  This 
vault  or  dome  did  not  possess  the  elegance  of  the 
Greek  "  Columniata,"  nor  of  its  architrave ;  but  they 
sought  to  imitate  the  vaulting  of  the  heavens  ;  and 
thus  it  came  about  that  this  was  the  origin  of  new 
and  beautiful  designs  in  architecture,  and  was  the 
first  example  of  the  sublime  cupola  of  our  immense 
and  splendid  Basilicas. 

The  first  Christian  assemblies  were  held  in  secret. 
The  Faithful,  persecuted  as  they  were  by  the  blind- 
ness of  the  Jews,  by  the  pride  of  philosophers  and 
by  the  policy  of  the  Caesars,  performed  their  religious 
rites,  in  the  first  instance,  within  the  interior  of  their 
dwellings.  As  the  members  of  this  Christian  com- 
munity began  to  increase  considerably,  wishing  to 
impart  to  the  cultus  some  solemnity,  yet  compelled 
on  the  other  hand  to  fly  from  their  cruel  enemies, 
they  took  refuge  in  the  interior  of  the  Catacombs. 
Some  portions  of  the  sculptures  which  subsequently 
were  discovered  clearly  demonstrate  that  the  mys- 
teries of  our  Holy  Catholic  Faith  had  been  celebrated 
in  these  subterranean  places.  After  three  centuries 
of  bloody  persecution,  Constantine  restored  peace 
to  the  Church  of  Christ.  With  the  assistance  of 
this  powerful  Protector,  and  by  the  effects  of  that 
Divine  virtue  which  always  exists  in  the  Church, 
the  Christian  Eeligion  began  to  extend  to  the  con- 
fines of  the  Empire  with  extraordinary  rapidity. 
Then  the  Church  had  to  assign  to  her  children  for 
Divine  Worship  buildings  which  had  been  previously 
used  for  other  rites,  but  which  were  modified  and 


152  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

adapted  to  the  requirements  of  our  Holy  Eeligion. 
After  the  modifications  had  been  carried  out,  these 
transformed  Temples  were  made  to  serve  as  models 
for  the  first  churches  erected  by  Faith,  thus  making 
the  architecture  of  the  Pagans  of  use  to  the  Christian 
worship.  Never  have  these  primitive  models  been 
lost  sight  of  altogether,  although  they  departed  some- 
what from  them.  From  the  successive  changes 
which  took  place  there  originated  the  Roman  Archi- 
tecture, so  well  adapted  to  the  grave  and  simple 
character  of  Christianity  in  its  first  ages.  The 
"  pleno-ar co- Romano  "  becomes  joined  to  the  Greek, 
considerably  altered  in  its  proportions.  Sustained 
by  its  own  solidity,  sheltered  beneath  the  powerful 
wings  of  the  Catholic  Eeligion,  essentially  conserva- 
tive, the  first  monuments  of  the  Faith  of  our  Fathers 
are  found  still  in  considerable  numbers  even  in  our 
land.1  Time  has  mutilated  them,  it  is  true,  but  it 
has  also  been  able  to  impart  to  them  more  than 
it  has  taken  away,  because  time  has  cast  over  them 
that  peculiar  shade,  the  tint  of  ages,  which  imparts 
to  these  monuments  a  grand  beauty. 

However  noteworthy  may  have  been  this  first 
fruit  of  our  architecture,  it  cannot  yet  be  called  the 
complete  manifestation  of  the  Christian  idea,  which 
became  fully  developed  at  the  period  dating  from 
the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth  century  in  the  Church, 
and  which  is  improperly  called  Gothic.  All  the  parts 
of  the  building  develop  in  a  surprising  manner ;  the 

1  The  author  here  refers  to  Spain. 


THIRTEENTH   ARTICLE.  153 

edifice  extends  and  becomes  elevated.  The  world 
would  fain  say  that  some  celestial  intelligence  had 
become  incarnate  in  the  mass  to  animate  it :  "  mens 
agitat  molem  ".  From  age  to  age  the  vault  continues 
to  rise ;  it  rises  in  an  endless  way  and  without  bounds. 
It  would  seem  as  though  the  two  parts  of  which  it 
is  composed  could  never  have  united  together  had 
it  not  been  necessary  to  shelter  the  faithful,  who,  to 
their  sorrow,  were  still  to  be  retained  on  earth.  But, 
nevertheless,  the  two  arches  of  the  vault  are  discovered 
at  a  great  height,  and  after  becoming  united  they 
seem  to  still  wish  to  soar  higher,  and  become  elevated, 
as  though  drawn  by  a  celestial  loadstone  towards 
that  magnificent  vault  which  God  Himself  had 
formed. 

Yet  when  the  edifice  is  roofed  in  the  artist  does 
not  rest  here.  Leaping  step  by  step  he  raises  towers 
and  spires,  as  though  he  wished  his  work  not  to 
belong  to  earth  ;  it  is  the  counterpart  of  the  Tower 
of  Babel.  When  raising  the  Tower  of  Babel,  rebel 
man  intended  to  liberate  himself  from  the  just 
punishments  of  a  vengeful  God,  while  the  faithful 
Christian,  on  elevating  the  Towers  of  the  Catholic 
building,  assumes  to  approach  to  a  God  Who  is  mer- 
ciful and  Who  rewards.  Those  weather-vanes  and 
spires  and  turrets  impart  to  our  cities,  as  well  as  to 
our  fields,  a  grand  religious  character  never  possessed 
by  the  buildings  of  antiquity.  Elevated  above  all 
earthly  objects,  the  bell  tower  is  like  to  the  finger 
of  Religion,  our  Divine  Mother,  who  lovingly  reminds 
her  numerous  children  of  the  great  and  excellent 


154       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

thoughts  of  eternity,  and  the  tranquil,  smooth  road 
to  heaven. 

When,  after,  perchance,  taking  a  long  ramble  across 
country,  we  approach  a  spot  were  men  have  fixed 
their  residence — be  it  near  a  wooded  part,  or  on  the 
declivity  of  a  hill — the  church  is  the  first  object  which 
attracts  our  attention.  What  thoughts,  so  full  of 
comfort,  are  awakened  at  that  instant  within  our 
hearts,  troubled,  perchance,  as  they  may  be  at  the 
time,  by  the  tumult  of  the  passions  !  Here  is  where 
the  sacred  bell  lifts  its  pious  accents  towards  heaven 
on  our  behalf.  Its  mysterious  voice  proclaims  to 
the  Holy  Church  our  spiritual  regeneration. 

Yet  this  was  not  sufficient  to  give  to  the  grand 
and  sumptuous  building  that  lightness  and  elevation 
which  the  Christian  conception  demanded. 

On  the  exterior,  as  in  the  interior  of  the  Temple, 
among  the  columns  of  the  nave  and  the  choir,  above 
the  principal  facade,  on  all  sides,  up  in  the  towers, 
the  most  elevated  portions  of  the  building,  in  all 
places,  even  those  where  the  most  penetrative  eye 
could  scarcely  reach,  the  Catholic  artist  has  repre- 
sented, with  admirable  profusion,  men  and  animals, 
flowers  and  plants,  and  countless  creatures  of  all 
kinds,  in  imitation  of  the  Supreme  Creator,  Who 
has  peopled,  with  beings  of  all  descriptions,  the 
different  parts  of  the  universal  globe. 

Christian  architecture  suffered  a  new  and  impor- 
tant modification  at  the  epoch  which  was  called  the 
Benaissance.  The  faith  of  the  first  ages,  that  lively 
faith,  ardent,  and  which,  as  though  it  had  been 


THIRTEENTH   ARTICLE.  155 

banished  from  the  earth,  was  impatient  of  reaching 
heaven  in  order  to  carry  to  God  all  that  belonged 
to  Him — that  faith,  we  repeat,  became  weakened  in 
a  considerable  manner.  On  the  one  hand,  the  works 
of  antiquity  were  studied  with  great  zest ;  and,  as 
they  had  been  for  a  long  time  despised,  the  study 
excited  a  universal  admiration.  On  the  other  hand, 
faith,  which  was  still  rooted  in  the  depths  of  souls, 
did  not  permit  of  so  sudden  a  change.  An  alliance 
was  formed  between  Ancient  and  Christian  art. 
The  elegant  and  pure  lines  of  the  Greek  Temple 
were  imitated,  but  at  the  same  time  the  rich  and 
varied  ornaments  of  the  Gothic  Church  were  pre- 
served. 

But  one  thing  we  must  acknowledge.  Christian 
art  produced  at  this  epoch  very  notable  works, 
which  we  offer  to  the  intelligent  in  art  as  new  titles 
of  glory.  The  drawing  is  most  pure  and  correct ; 
the  execution  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired ;  the 
vault,  on  widening,  imitates  better  than  the  diagonal 
arch  the  immense  vault  of  the  heavens.  But  the 
Catholic  edifice  has  lost  much  in  other  ways.  That 
half  light,  so  favourable  to  prayer  and  meditation, 
appears  to  have  become  dispelled.  That  rich  variety 
in  all  the  productions  of  nature  disappears  day  by 
day.  Those  high,  delicate  columns,  crowned  with 
capitals  which  are  so  beautifully  varied,  and  placed 
in  profusion  in  the  Temple,  in  the  manner  of  trees 
planted  in  a  garden — those  columns  have  been  put 
more  apart  and  lower,  and  let  us  say  it,  they  remind 
us  overmuch,  by  reason  of  its  similarity,  of  the 


156      THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

uniform  work  of  man.  The  curves  of  vaults  have 
been  arrested,  and  in  place  of  rising  in  an  endless 
manner,  and  of  elevating  the  thoughts  and  desires  of 
men,  incline  towards  the  earth.  Placed  upon  that 
inclined  plane  art  decreases  rapidly,  and  the  Greek 
Temple  takes  the  place,  in  a  certain  manner,  of  the 
Christian  Temple. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that,  when  once  the  cultus  is 
provided  for  and  assured,  architecture  will  always 
work  what  it  judges  best.  Statues  and  windows, 
flowers,  arabesques,  cornices  and  capitals  and  bass- 
reliefs — all  things  does  architecture  combine  har- 
moniously, according  to  the  logarithm  which  is 
appropriate.  From  this  results  the  prodigious 
variety  of  magnificent  buildings,  in  the  construction 
of  which  we  find  so  much  order,  symmetry  and 
beauty.  The  trunk  of  the  tree  is  immutable,  its 
branches  and  foliage  are  alone  diverse  and  varied. 

Should  incredulity  ask  us,  "  Who  gave  the  plan 
for  the  creation  of  such  marvellous  Basilicas  ?  "  our 
answer  would  be  a  very  easy  one.  It  is  Faith, 
assisted  by  Genius ;  it  is  those  Bishops  and  Priests, 
all  those  men  who  are  powerful  on  account  of 
their  great  intelligences,  and  more  powerful  still  on 
account  of  their  extraordinary  zeal  and  their  religious 
enthusiasm,  those  who  have  formed  our  modern 
societies,  like  to  the  bees,  that  work  and  form  their 
hives.  Eetired  from  the  busy  throng  of  men,  and 
dwelling  in  the  most  arid  deserts  and  in  the  vastest 
solitudes,  these  men  have  studied  and  profoundly 
meditated  on  the  teaching  of  our  most  Sacred 


THIRTEENTH   ARTICLE.  157 

Eeligion;  they  have  contemplated  for  a  long  time, 
through  the  Divine  prism  of  the  Faith,  all  the 
marvels  of  Nature ;  and  they  have  known  also  how 
to  cast,  from  time  to  time,  an  observant  look  upon 
the  productions  of  ancient  art,  whose  beautiful 
deposits  they  alone  possessed.  When  these  different 
elements  had  become  combined  by  reflection  and 
elevated  by  inspiration,  then  there  came  forth,  by 
degrees,  those  notable  forms  which  many  believe 
had  been  brought  to  earth  by  supernatural  and 
Divine  intelligences. 

The  earth  is  not  for  the  Christian  what  it  was  for 
the  Greeks,  who  ever  yearned  for  the  pleasures  of  this 
world,  towards  which  they  were  drawn  by  a  religion 
of  delights.  To  the  Christian  it  is  a  place  of  expia- 
tion and  of  trial,  where  he  is  found  weeping  and 
suffering,  until,  forsaking  his  perishable  body,  his 
soul  may  go  forth  to  the  peaceful  and  sweet  abode 
of  eternal  felicity.  Behold  the  reason  why  man, 
here  below,  views  this  earth  as  though  enveloped  in 
an  obscure  mist  like  to  a  funereal  crape.  Man  can- 
not tell  how  often  the  arm  of  Divine  Justice  has 
been  laid  upon  him ;  nevertheless,  the  memory  of  a 
terrible  punishment  will  never  be  effaced  from  the 
mind.  I  mean  the  Universal  Deluge.  The  just  man 
Noe,  the  only  one,  the  hope  of  the  human  race,  was 
alone  preserved  in  the  Ark,  together  with  all  his 
family.  The  perversity  of  the  new  world  was  not 
long  before  it  equalled  the  perversity  of  the  old  world, 
and  a  punishment  yet  more  heavy,  in  truth  an  eternal 
condemnation,  threatened  him,  until  the  Son  of  God 


158       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CATHOLICISM. 

came  to  redeem  and  to  save  us,  and  to  reconcile  erring 
man  to  His  Heavenly  Father.  The  Cross  is  the 
means  whereby  He  has  fully  made  satisfaction  to 
the  Eternal  Father.  The  infinite  merits  of  His 
Precious  Blood  are  daily  applied  to  us.  Although 
He  superabundantly  satisfied  the  Divine  Justice  for 
our  sins,  yet  He  also  wished  that  the  merits  of  the 
Holiest  Virgin  should  be  applied  to  us.  Hence  all 
these  magnificent  and  sublime  ideas  are  found  en- 
closed, so  to  say,  and  materially  realised  in  our 
beautiful  Christian  Basilicas,  which  are  so  many 
more  titles  of  glory  that  are  added  to  the  innumerable 
number  with  which  our  holy  Catholic  Faith  has 
enriched  us. 

When  we  penetrate  within  this  vast  circuit,  we 
breathe  an  atmosphere  so  pure  and  so  tranquil  that 
it  calms  our  senses  and  deadens  our  passions.  The 
paleness  of  the  evening,  the  shadows  which  fall  from 
the  numerous  high  pillars,  remind  us  of  the  fading 
away  of  nature,  obscured  after  sin.  Life  and  death, 
hope  and  fear,  holy  joys  and  the  mysterious  sadness 
of  the  soul,  form  in  this  sacred  spot,  by  their  indefin- 
able tones,  an  atmosphere  which  leads  us  away  from 
all  terrestrial  objects,  and  raises  our  minds  to  the 
contemplation  of  heavenly  mysteries,  symbolised  by 
these  material  sculptures. 

We  recognise  above  our  heads  the  image  of  the 
ancient  Ark  which  saved  man  at  the  time  of  the 
Deluge,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Spiritual  Ark  which 
so  happily  carries  us  over  the  waves  of  this  world, 
and  "out  of  which  there  is  no  salvation".  The  two 


THIRTEENTH   ARTICLE.  159 

doors,  on  crossing  each  other,  remind  us  of  the  precious 
instrument  of  Eternal  Health.  Those  saints,  those 
celestial  spirits  who  incessantly  plead  for  us,  rever- 
ently placed  around  the  tabernacle ;  those  altars,  so 
worthy  of  veneration,  and  which  seem  to  turn  towards 
the  central  spot  wherein  resides,  hidden  from  our 
view,  the  All-powerful  and  our  Eedeemer;  all  in 
that  holy  fane  impels  us  to  remember  the  Christian 
Doctrine  in  relation  to  the  regeneration  of  the  human 
race  stained  by  sin. 

We  behold  the  majestic  and  magnificent  procession 
as  it  wends  its  way  along,  in  all  recollection,  preceded 
always  by  the  Cross,  to  which  our  Saviour  gave  the 
power  and  the  virtue  of  reparation.  When  it  leaves 
the  sanctuary  the  priest  proceeds  along  the  principal 
nave  ;  in  all  the  parts  of  the  building  does  he  pene- 
trate, inviting  the  faithful  and  the  celestial  choirs 
to  join  in  his  prayers ;  then  he  returns  to  consum- 
mate the  sacrifice  on  the  spot  whereon  the  Victim 
will  descend,  and  which  gives  to  the  Temple  its  form, 
its  virtue,  and  its  glory. 

It  is  an  indubitable  fact  that  Catholic  architecture 
had  derived  much  profit  from  the  intelligent  works 
of  former  times,  and  that  the  admixture  of  the  various 
styles  of  ancient  eras  had  entered  into  architecture  as 
an  important  element  in  the  erection  of  our  churches. 
In  them  we  actually  recognise  the  Koman  vault 
intimately  joined  to  the  Greek  "Collum".  Each 
style  has,  perchance,  lost  somewhat  of  its  primitive 
beauty,  but  the  whole  has  gained  by  the  fulness  of 
the  effect,  by  this  vague  sentiment  of  the  Infinite, 


160  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   CATHOLICISM. 

which  it  ever  pleases  us  to  experience  in  the  presence 
of  God.  We  also  observe  and  avow  the  hidden  Taber- 
nacle of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and  the  Cherubim 
prostrated  before  the  sweet  Majesty  of  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  The  subterranean  temples  of  Egypt  and 
of  India  are  represented  by  the  shadowy,  sad  crypts 
which  are  sometimes  seen  in  churches.  These 
crypts  remind  us  also  of  the  Catacombs,  in  which 
the  primitive  Church  celebrated  the  holy  mysteries. 
Beautiful  and  wholesome  thought !  This  Divine 
Mother  and  indefatigable  Teacher  of  Truth  says  to 
the  Christian  faithful,  as  she  does  to  the  society  of 
the  whole  human  race  :  "  Remember  that  you  pro- 
ceed from  the  earth,  that  the  splendour  which  you 
enjoy  in  this  exile  is  none  else  but  a  glory  that  is  lent 
to  you,  and  which  will  disappear  when  the  realities 
of  the  invisible  world  shall  replace  the  vanities  and 
illusions  of  this  miserable,  perishable  earth  ". 

Some,  perchance,  will  ask  us  anew :  "From  whence, 
from  what  treasury  was  the  wealth  drawn  for  the 
acquisition  of  so  many  materials?"  "From  the 
inexhaustible  treasury  of  the  Catholic  Faith  !  "  we 
shall  reply  with  joy  and  enthusiasm. 

"What  hands  have  gathered  them  together,  to 
prepare  them  and  to  work  them  and  to  raise  them 
up?"  And  we  shall  reply  again:  "Faith,  holding 
as  her  staff  and  mainstay  the  powerful  arm  of  the 
Christian  people!  " 

THE   END. 
Laus  Deo  Semper. 


UCS8   LIBRARY 


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